La Mort De Robin
by RavenHeart101
Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. Slash. RobinxRed. Full summary inside. Please try it? It's my first...
1. Chapter 1

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

A:N- Written due to peer pressure… -_-

* * *

The day wasn't all that much different than the one when Robin arrived in Jump City. It was a nice night, one when the stars where visual and blinked down through the heavy air pollution onto the small, crime ridden area. However, there was one noticeable difference. One that Robin noticed the moment he woke up in the morning.

There was a circus in town. The Haly's Circus to be exact.

The question that plagued all the Titans that day was why, exactly, their fearless leader was hiding out in his room for the duration of the day. They all tried ways to get him out. Beast Boy transformed into a puppy and barked up at the door to get him to come out. No luck. Cyborg pretended to want to play video games with him, Robin being the only real challenge out of the group. No luck. Raven tried to spell the door open, then apologized and asked for someone with sanity to come out and have a conversation with her. No luck. Robin didn't even leave his room when Starfire came with some horrible excuse for food. Nor did he come out with an apology when she started yelling at him to open the door with tears glinting in her big eyes. He only came out once.

The distress alarm woke the Titans from their silence, startling them enough to cause them to jump into standing positions. They gazed at each other in confusion, Cyborg's silver plated "armor" glinting under the blinking of the television reminding him, once again, that he had one. "You coming, Titans?" The familiar voice caused almost all of them to smile, Starfire squealing and enveloping Robin in a tight hug, filling him in on her day. Raven rolled her eyes at the pair making her way towards the door and out behind a struggling Robin and clingy Starfire.

"Where to, Robin?" Beast Boy asked with giddy happiness sugar coating his voice. The masked hero smirked back at him.

"The center of town." The answer, while confusing many of them further, was welcome, many of them reveling in the fact that they could hear his voice once again.

Starfire was the first to ask the question that clouded their minds. "What's there?"

Robin shrugged in response, looking at Cyborg for the honorary answer. "A circus."

Starfire just looked even more confused, Raven looked sarcastically happy and Beast Boy was practically bouncing in his seat. Robin paled, his gloved hands curling into fists at his side. He only hoped that it wasn't as bad as his last trip to the Haly's Circus. "With the lions? And tigers? And the acrobats! And the trapeze artists! I haven't been to one since FOREVER!" Beast Boy's voice shook was excitement at the thought of the circus.

"We aren't going for entertainment." Raven's bland voice spoke up, ending his party.

His happiness visibly fell from his face, his eyes only hosting a small amount of excitement. Starfire gazed at him, her own eyes wide in disappointment. "Oh, but we could stay and watch some of it, could we not Robin?" Her begging voice pushed the boy out of his quite morbid thoughts, her eyes gazing at him in question.

Robin pushed back his fear and nodded slightly. "Sure." A fake smile fell across his features, his gaze quickly returning to the window, fear nibbling at his senses.

Haly's Circus looked just as magnificent as Robin remembered. People in bright suits ran around, gathering equipment and whatnot. And then there were the animals, the clowns held onto their reins, their makeup half gone from the sweat and tears that were falling down their faces. Then there were the police, obviously there to do their job. Robin stood in back of the others, his eyes following the members of the circus's every movement. He briefly wondered if anyone that he had known from when he was younger was there, before shaking his head at the thought, dismissing it quickly. They had at dispersed when he had left, gone to different circuses, the memory of the family that had died being too much for them to bear.

"The people are sayin' that they fell." One officer commented to the Titans. Officer Erick, if Robin remembered correctly. A bit arrogant and not the best officer of the force in Jump City. Then again, no one really compared when you'd been the sidekick to Batman and known a certain Commissioner Jim Gordon for most of your life.

"Do you know who they are?" Raven sounded a little sick as she said it, her gray face gaining a green tinge to it. The Titans weren't ones to get murder cases, usually going after the evil geniuses who _want _to kill everyone but haven't gotten around to it yet, and petty criminals like Red X who really didn't do much other than steal. This was somehow much more raw. It was something that Robin remembered from his time in Gotham. It was one of the reasons Batman had allowed him to move onto Jump City by himself. Less death. Less impossible to solve murder cases. Less insanity.

The officers shook their heads in sadness. "The acrobats. A family. Damn shame, it is." Officer Erick answered in a quiet voice. Starfire had big tears cascading down her face, and her bottom lip trembled.

Robin decided that it was best if he looked now.

A young family. A mother and, what he assumed was, a father. Both were in red and blue, the circus's new colors, costumes that accented their bodies. The mother had light orange hair that was matted and sticking to the floor from the amount of blood that had poured from her head when it hit the ground. The father had blonde hair dyed pink. Their limbs were twisted underneath them awkwardly. Their eyes were wide open.

He ran.

* * *

It was winter when Robin left. There was a short, neatly scrawled note on the desk. There were simply two things (and a very important person) missing. A photo album that used to sit upon the top of the bureau to never be looked at by anyone but the owner of the room. And a laptop. And Robin. The Titans weren't home when Robin left. They weren't home when the boy trudged away with a backpack slugged over his shoulder and silky black hair brushing into his eyes. Robin was gone. Richard Grayson, however, was going home.

The train banged and rolled on the tracks, the sound of the tires lulling Richard to a dense half sleep. The train suddenly lurched upwards and onto Jump City's high reaching old tracks that would bring Richard, and the rest of its passengers, to the airport. His cheek was pressed firmly on the window, his crystal blue eyes sparkling in exhaustion. It wasn't a new, or good, train that Richard was traveling on and he noted, numb to the surprise that used to climb up his spine, that the train was owned by Wayne Enterprises. Just like everything else in the God-forsaken world. Richard pulled the backpack closer to his body, almost curling in on himself, his blue eyes blinking in an effort to stay awake.

The train lurched downwards a tinge, the tourists letting out a shocked gasp and the regular customers briefly letting a smile cross over their lips. Richard just gripped his backpack even closer and slung it over his shoulder once the train pulled to a stop. The doors slid to an open, an elderly couple being the first ones out, nearly getting trampled on in the process. Richard shrugged his way through the crowd, used to the packed subways in Gotham, which really weren't all that different than the packed trains in Jump City. The doors leading into the airport were open for access and Richard happily welcomed them. His ticket was quickly handed to the attendant and he smiled lightly at them, ignoring the look she sent his way when she noticed the small amount of things he had with him. "Have a nice flight, Mister…" She glanced down at his ticket, her eyes widening the amount of an anime character's before glancing back up at him, a bright smile covering her face. "Grayson." Richard smiled back at her, which seemed to cause her to almost squeal in happiness.

"Thanks." He said in false cheer. It seemed to fuel her smile, as it burst into a blinding white that covered her teeth. Richard took the offered ticket, walking forward and onto the airplane. He was one of the last people on, the flight attendant almost looking surprised at his presence. He shrugged off her assistance with a smile, making his way over to his seat in certified First Class by himself. The attendant stared after him in what looked like shock before she went to help the young couple that had just entered.

In all honesty Richard didn't like, nor did he _ask_, for First Class. The name "Wayne" called for it, however, and, therefore, he had to be seated in it. The seats, however, were definitely much more comfortable than the ones in the other parts of plane. His forehead fell against the window, his straight hair flattening against it and his blue eyes staring as more and more people tried to find the plane that was theirs. His eyes flicked to the people in First Class with him. Needless to say he was gaining many odd looks.

A business man sat in the row beside him, trying to discreetly look at him through his horn rimmed glasses. Then there was a woman with prime and primed nails sitting in the row in front of him. She obviously didn't care much for discreet as she was twisted in a way that must have been uncomfortable to stare at him. Then there was the rich old couple sitting in the very front, both looking at him as if he was some sort of scum on the bottom of their shoe and didn't deserve to be where he was. These looks… this kind of curiosity… Richard welcomed the familiarity. He didn't try much to fit in with the wealthy crowd, something that Bruce was silently proud of him for.

Speaking of Bruce, Richard was unsure about how things were going to be like between him and his guardian once they re-met. When Richard-no Robin- had called him after running from the scene at Haly's Circus Bruce hadn't asked any questions, just granted him use of the trust fund in his name to buy himself a one way ticket back to Gotham. It was unusual, something so un-Bruce like that Richard had a feeling that the older man had planned on bringing him back home soon anyway. The two hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms. Bruce begging him, in his own way, not to go and Richard saying that since he had a new Robin know what would be the point of having two. It was a long and tiring argument that lasted all of two years and lead to Bruce giving up and giving in, Tim taking Richard's place as Gotham's Robin and Richard moving to Jump City to help the Titans. The only real contact the two had since then was through the communicator. But even that was just as Batman and Robin and was strictly professional.

The plane took off, the other members in First Class finding him not as interesting as they had once thought and turning back to their original occupations. The old couple talking to some new members about their trip and how wonderful the Hotel was. The businessman going back to his laptop and prattling away on the keys. The woman in the seat in front of him went back to filing her nails and drinking a glass of red wine. Richard shook his head at them all, pulling out his ipod and picking a random song, plugging his ears with the headphones and settling down for a small nap, feeling at home once in the air.

* * *

By the time the plane landed it was dark outside, the darkness eating away at all the light that seemed to fill the plane when they were in the air. They all exited, no one but Richard and the businessman planning on staying in Gotham for much time. Once in the airport once more Richard collapsed into one of the disgustingly uncomfortable chairs and threw his head into his hands. The idea of being back on the ground wasn't one that Richard took lightly. The feeling of being alive was with him for so long, and then it was gone, in the snap of a finger. Richard didn't like that much. When he was in the air he was free. On the ground he was chained again. Chained in like an animal. It did something to his mind. He hadn't felt this need desperate need for freedom in so long that when the chains came back he didn't know how to move in them.

"Dick?" The voice was familiar and oddly welcome. But Richard didn't look up until the name was repeated twice, not used to his name being said after spending two years being referred to as "Robin". He blinked up at the man who had uttered his name, his black hair falling haphazardly into his blue eyes. Bruce Wayne wasn't one for physical affection, or a show of anything physical other than fighting (and even that was Batman not Bruce Wayne), and Richard had a feeling he wasn't going to start now.

Richard scrambled to his feet, picking his backpack up with a shaking hand. His guardian looked good (well when didn't he?) and not a year under thirty five. The man's own dark hair was cut stylishly and his dark eyes sparkled with life that Richard remembered oh so well. Richard had seen that spark come to life when fighting. He'd seen it spark to life when he was happy. And he'd seen the spark disappear with disapproval. But now… now it was at an amount that Richard hadn't seen in so long and he had to restrain himself from attacking his guardian in a fierce hug. "Bruce." A smile was threatening to find its way across his face.

And then Bruce Wayne smiled a smile so unlike the ones usually thrown in the public's way as he pulled his ward into a tight hug. The scent of Bruce was one that Richard welcomed. He hadn't realized just how much he missed his guardian until this moment, tears forming in his eyes before he pushed them back. The hug was short, yet full of so much that Richard felt as though he was home once again.

A flash of light crossed Richard's vision along with an onset of voices. They were nearly too close, nearly too much for him to process. Then he remembered who he was. He was Richard Grayson, son of the deceased Mary and John Grayson, and ward of Bruce Wayne. The attack of voices belonged to reporters here to see the arrival of Bruce Wayne's ward and they had just seen some of the best footage in the world, and yet not one of them had taken a picture. "Come on." Bruce muttered, gripping Richard's arm and pulling him toward the exit and through the crowd of Gotham's reporters and into the parked limo that sat at the entrance. Richard fell into the limo with a look of shock upon his face. Then he smiled.

He was home.

* * *

What'd you think? Should I carry on or not?


	2. Chapter 2

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

Warnings for this chapter: Swearing. Plenty of swearing.

**A:N- **Written for an anime club fanfiction contest. Even though this isn't really an anime. -_-

JennySam: Yikers! Thanks for giving me the corrections. I don't take offense to it at all. Any other mistakes I make feel free to tell me about. It definitely helps someone new to a fandom. Other than that, thank you so much for your kind words!

White Rose 101: Yeah. He'll have more of a role. Not a big one, since the story's focusing of Dick and Red-X. But he'll have a role since he has a role in Dick's life. I'm glad you like the communication between the two of them. I think Bruce can be over protective but, he honestly cares for Richard. And for any parent who leaves their child alone for two years with little communication would react almost the same way.

Renee430: Haha. Yeah. Thanks for pointing that out. I hope you keep up the notion that this is the best story you've read for the rest of it. Doubt you will.

I-Love-Trunks1: Thank you! I hope you like the rest.

Main Source of Annoyance: YAY FOR LOVING! Thanks. By the way, loving the screen name.

Tathwem Essenuejal: Aww thanks Matt. The description… I can describe emotions. Not places. So don't expect that. At all.

Peeta's Lover: Haha. Thanks. I'm looking forward to it too.

SoulMore: Thank you! I'm glad you like it.

PIRATEofHOGWARTS: Awesome name! I love pirates and Hogwarts! WHOOT! I'm glad you love it.

ShadowWolfDagger: Yes! Hello my #1 fan!

freakyprincess-87: YAYNESS FOR REALLY NICE REVIEWS! And long reviews. I love that too. Ahhh that is seriously one of the nicest reviews I have ever received in my whole lifetime on fanfiction. THANK YOU!

**A: N- **I hope this lives up to what the last chapter was.

* * *

The day Red-X met Robin was one that everyone will remember. The infamous stealing of the costume. And then there's the whole "being hero for a day" thing that Red-X just couldn't ignore. It did too much for his ego. He loved having his ego stroked.

And then there's the day that Red-X _met_ Robin.

What can he say? He needed to steal those diamonds. He didn't just do it to get the Titans attention. He could care less about them. But, when the showed up, he played it off as though it was what he had expected. Which was a total lie. But Red-X prided himself in being a semi-good actor. And that's what Red-X was. An actor.

It was overly hot out. The suit wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world and the heat was beating down on the City even at night. The air was sticky. His hair was sticky. In general, everything was sticky. But he was stealing the diamond nevertheless. Just as his hand was reaching into the glass box, avoiding all red lines of course, a teenager's voice ruined his day. "Red-X." Figured. It was the fearless leader of the Titans. Robin-apprentice-to-the-Batman Titan. He looked enviously at the diamond before turning around to face the group of self-proclaimed super heroes, or just plain heroes in Robin's case, behind him.

Starfire was as beautiful as ever. Her hair literally sparkled. Which was something Red-X had never wanted to see on a girl before. Her face was dripping with tired sweat and her own, skimpy, and kind of cute, suit was sticking to her body in all the right places. Raven's gray skin looked ready to fall into a pile of mush at his feet. Wearing all that black much attract a shit load of heat. Cyborg looked as if he was burning alive. Which was understandable, he was half metal. Beast Boy was a dog. Literally. Which Red-X could say wasn't fair but he was guessing that he fur wasn't succeeding in making the heat any less tolerable.

Then there was Robin. The fearless leader. The one that he knew so much about and yet knew so little. What he did know was what the bird wanted him to know. He knew nothing more, nothing less. Which annoyed him. Immensely.

Well, it didn't annoy Red-X. It annoyed Shane Tyler. Which wasn't really the best thing in the world because, as Red-X knew, if Shane wanted to know he would work to the death until he got the answer.

Anyway, Robin was dressed in his usual bright green and red uniform (which looked as though he was a member of a circus. Red-X had to wonder if Batman had dressed him like that for a _reason_.). His black hair was sticking up, as usual, but the spikes were wilting, the tips doing a random dip. His mask was easily keeping anyone from seeing anything about him. This was even more annoying than that bright suit. But the bird looked vaguely comfortable. As though he was used to the harsh heat.

"Good afternoon, kid." Red-X knew it annoyed the bird to call him that. So he did. All the, fuckin' time.

"Hand over the diamond, Red-X." Cyborg said simply, as though it hurt to speak.

Red-X raised an eyebrow at them, his head gesturing at the glass box and the diamond that lay in it. Comfortably. Unlike him. "Don't have the diamond." He shrugged making to leave the shop. He turned back to look at the group of teens, all but the bird seemingly surprised that he hadn't taken the diamond. Damn bird thought he had him all figured out. Anger, and only a small amount of jealousy, climbed through his veins. "You know… your family's here to visit, Rob."

The bird's head snapped to look at him. His mouth was pulled in confusion. "What?"

"You know your family." A smirk crossed over his lips. "The circus." He found himself taking some perverse kind of pleasure from baiting the bird like this.

A flash of something crossed what little parts of the teen's face. It had him frozen. He had never seen anything remotely like what he had just seen cross the bird's features. And it had guilt climbing its way through his body quicker than he ever expected. The Titan forced himself to swallow, and Red-X would have given anything to be able to look him in the eye. "That's funny, Red. Really. It is." His voice was calm and even. Once again, something that Red-X was beginning to envy, and hate. It was as though this bird could hide anything from unwanted priers. "Which circus?"

Well, Red-X could play that game too. "Oh you know the circus well, Rob. I'm sure of it."

"Which circus?" He demanded quieter. Red-X found it hard to believe that the bird had moved so fast, as he was now standing directly in front of him, his lips forming a thin line in aggravation. Oh… so that was one way to get the bird to show some kind of emotion other than calmness.

"Haly's Circus." And just like that Red-X saw every single emotion flicker on the bird's face. His hands flexed open and closed and he unconsciously took several steps back.

The rest of that meeting wasn't important.

* * *

"Mom-!" Shane tried again. It was pointless. As it usually was whenever anything concerned his mother's decisions to move them all over creation.

Annabelle Tyler bustled around the living room, picking up things and throwing them into various boxes. "Shane, hunny, the movers are going to be here soon and we don't have a shit load of time so if you could please go and clean up your room."

It seemed as though his mother's newest con had been figured out. Well, technically, it was his and his mother's con but Shane liked to think that he just charmed the children and wives of the family. But he liked this place. The house was spacious and there was a certain air to it that had nothing to do with the owners being rich enough to put half of Jump City into college and then some. Shane liked it because it was hospitable and probably the longest running gig he had ever had. Some interesting things had come out of that. Like the creation of Red-X.

He shook his head at his mother before exiting the room, leaving her to her antics alone. He was better doing this by himself anyway. He threw open the door leading into his room, his eyes straying to take in everything present there. Pictures were strewn across the walls, pictures of bands and movies and of previous families. A picture of Freida, his only friend he kept since his father died, and him from the last time he had seen her in person (over a year ago). There was one of his family and him. His father was throwing a bone casually over to a golden retriever (Vance) and Shane was placing a plate on the table and his mother was grilling away. It was happy. It was the happiest that he had felt in a while.

Shane shook his head of the thoughts, pulling out an old and worn suitcase from under his bed. It struck him that he could have bought another one, a newer one, while he was here. But he just shook his head once again, jumping to his feet and pulling open his draws. He knew he wouldn't be able to take everything, so he grabbed the newest pieces of clothing to shove into the bag.

Then, at the very bottom of his drawer, he saw it. The Red-X suit. He couldn't just leave it here. Who knew what could happen to it? A finger rose to his mouth, his teeth gnawing at it as he tried to decide what to do with it.

Finally the decision was made. He picked it up with a hesitant hand before neatly folding it so that it fit into the bottom of his suitcase. He then grabbed the most important things off his walls and threw them into the bag too. The movies were next, him having nearly thousands of them and only being able to take his favorites. Then the books, which he only took two of since he wasn't big on reading. Then it was time for other things.

Shane had files. Plenty of files.

There was file on almost every person in Jump City and wherever else he had been. He had started them when he was younger, mainly, to plot out the best people to con next. Then it just became habit. It helped him cope with living in a new place. But the ones for Jump… they were important. More important than Shane would have really liked to admit.

Shane had made five special files during his duration in Jump City. There was Starfire's file, which was relatively small. There was Raven's file, which was around the normal length. There was Cyborg's file, which was small compared to Raven's but big compared to Starfire's. There was Beast Boy's file, which was smaller than all the other's. Then there was Robin's file.

The single most important file Shane had ever composed was this one. He had a small obsession with the bird and a largely aching pain to figure out just who this bird was. This file was, naturally, larger than any of the others.

There were two other files though. Ones that he had made simply out of boredom. Bruce Wayne and Batman. Both from Gotham City and both polar opposites.

He shoved all of the files into his bag, taking the time to save most things onto his flash drive before looking up at the sky. There hadn't been a signal out for the Titans to snap into action for a long time. Shane felt he should at least say goodbye.

* * *

This heist was to say goodbye to Jump City. Not to really rob the place. He could care less about any of the priceless artifacts this museum had anyway. Basically everything in it was pointless. Red-X kicked at the tile, wondering just why the Titans hadn't shown up yet. He had purposely walked the way he did. He knew that the security guard was awake at this time of night and he knew the man was paying attention. And the guy wasn't stupid either. He knew just when to call the Titans. So why weren't they here already? It was eating at his nerves.

"Red-X." It wasn't the voice he expected. It was one that didn't belong to the teenaged bird he had expected. He slowly turned to face the super-heroes.

There wasn't any Robin. "Where's Rob?" He asked casually. All those cons Shane had pulled with his mother were beginning to pay off.

"Not here." Beast Boy said simply. It was almost as though they didn't care.

Red-X shook his head at all of them. "Darn. I was hoping I'd get to say goodbye."

Starfire looked at him in confusion. "Goodbye?" Her voice almost wavered. It was as though she hadn't wanted him to leave. Which was touching, really it was, but it wasn't what he wanted at the moment.

"Mm." Was his reply. "I'm leaving Jump City for good. Well… not maybe for good. But for awhile." He smirked at the heroes, pausing to take in all of their features. It hurt when he didn't see the smirk that would echo his own or hear the casual, and slightly teasing and annoyed voice, answering back that "we'll be waiting for you". It really just wasn't the same without the bird there to taunt. "Where'd Rob go, anyway?"

It was casual enough. Just not casual _enough_. They were catching onto his ploy pretty quick. Which was sad really… because the bird would have already had him figured out by now. "Back home." Raven said as though it was painful for her to say the words. Red-X found himself wondering if the two had been close. When Robin still trusted anyone to speak about his real self. Which Red-X was pretty sure, never happened. Well… at least he'd know someone in Gotham.

* * *

When Shane Tyler climbed aboard the plane the next day he hardly spared anyone a glance. His mother sat on the right of him, gazing out the window and looking quite a bit disheveled. She was worried about the police coming to find them. Shane didn't have to be a genius to know that. But they had other things to worry about at the moment. Like the murders at Haly's Circus. Questions floated around his head.

Questions like: was this the reason Robin left? Did he leave because of what he said? Shane didn't like the thought of that. He didn't like it at all. But it meant that he had something else to add to his file that was Robin. Another clue to figuring out just who the bird truly was. One of the only clues the criminal had.

Shane glanced back in time to see the flight attendant staring after someone in shock. He blinked at the teenage boy making his way towards First Class. What was someone his age doing there? "Who was that?" The Co-Pilot, Travis Nartword, asked the flight attendant.

Shane was happy he asked, straining his ears to listen. "Richard Grayson." The attendant responded. Shane sat back in his seat in shock. Richard Grayson? Ward to Bruce Wayne had been in Jump City the whole time he was there? Why hadn't he known? Why hadn't he made the files?

* * *

**A:N- **Shorter than the last chapter but it's an introduction into Red-X's character. I hope you all like this one as much as you liked the last. –winks-


	3. Chapter 3

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because I'm putting off homework. YAY PROCRASTINATION! -_-

Oh! I found a song for this story/pairing. I love it. I only listen to it because it fits so well! The song's "If We Ever Meet Again" by Timberland and Katy Perry. I don't usually listen to this kind of music… but it fits. Immensely. Look it up and tell me if you agree. Any suggestions just tell me!

_Renee430__:_ Yeah… that'd be awkward. But I appreciate the sentiment.

_I-Love-Trunks1__:_ Aww I'm glad you love them! The show's kind of… childish. But it's pretty cute. Haha.

_freakyprincess-87__:_ Yes, yes. Red-X is awesome. And he has to have a whole chapter to himself! He's the second main character! I love that you can understand his character more than I did in my story. Hahaha. I had no idea that I made him that way… just… it kind of… turned out like that.

_Peeta's Lover_: Glad you like him and glad you're taking the time to read and review.

_JennySam:_ YAY FOR AVID REVIEWERS! I'm so happy you adore "my" Red-X. I try to make him human… and, you know, different than a bored rich boy. And, in my story he's not a rich boy. His mother just pulls tons of schemes and he learns from them. I'm glad my story is the most original.

_ShadowWolfDagger__:_ YES! You understood the two different personas part! It makes me so happy! Yes… it doesn't mean that he's been in Jump for a long time… but, in reality, Robin was. Which is yet another different persona. Dick and Robin. Two, essentially, different people.

_RoxasIsReal13_: Oh I really hope so…!

* * *

When the limo pulled up in front of the place he grew up in, Richard could feel his heart pick up speed. It was almost unusual, almost as though he had never been to this place before. But Richard had been here. He remembered everything about it. The towering gates that had a big, metal "W" holding it closed. The brick and the paint and the windows (sixty-three in total). He remembered the gardens and the art room and the training/workout room. He remembered the pool and the hill that stood off to the side. And Richard remembered the burning fear that clogged his senses when he had first arrived. And now he would always remember the way his heart clanged away in his chest, the way his head began to pound, the way his palms began to sweat and fidget as they pulled up closer and closer.

He spared Bruce a sideways glance. The billionaire had a newspaper open in front of his face, but Richard knew that he hadn't read any of it. Bruce wasn't one to read the news; simply glancing at the titles and subtitles for anything that might have been in Batman's league. Bruce's hands were gripping the paper harder than necessary and Richard found it hard to distinguish between his mentor's angry grip and nervous grip. Had he really been gone that long?

And then they were at the door and the driver was opening up their door. Bruce was looking at him this time and Richard couldn't help but think about how it was a great thing that he hadn't cut his hair since his first year in Jump. The black locks now covered his blue, expressive eyes. Just as his mask used to. Bruce got out of the limo first, standing in front of the door for a bit, straitening his tie and collar, looking up at the twenty third window nervously. Then he nodded to himself and moved out of the way so that Richard could make himself known.

The first thing that hit him was the wind. It blew his hair out of his eyes and climbed all through his body. Then it was the smell of the air around him. There was no stench of city life in this part of Gotham, no smell of exhaust and thirst. Then it was the peace. No sounds other than the birds and crickets and the rumbling of the car engine behind him. Then it was a feeling.

The undeniable feeling of being _home_.

A smile almost broke free across his face as he gazed out at the house with a total of sixty three windows and eighteen cracks along the side. Or make it nineteen. There was a new one that must have shown up sometime _after_ he left for Jump. But then… well, then he did smile. Because, really, the whole thing was just too ridiculous _not _to smile. The cracks and the windows Richard had counted when he was around ten years old and Bruce had locked him out of the house by complete accident after a party. Which it really wasn't his fault for. He hadn't _meant_ to get distracted by the kitten that was wandering across the lawn. So he had stayed outside all night (thankfully it was a clear night) until Alfred noticed that he wasn't anywhere to be found and came looking for him. In the end they got to keep the kitten and he had proudly announced to Bruce that there were precisely sixty three windows in Wayne Manor and that if he had managed to sit still enough to count them that he "damn well should let me be your assistant already". It, obviously, didn't get him very far.

He almost ran into the manor and wrapped Alfred in a hug because Bruce would have gone so much harder on him and never let him become Robin if Alfred hadn't been there to convince him. That and he mainly just missed the old butler. And then he thought of Barbra and Tim and Commissioner Gordon and he wanted to soar with happiness and he felt that he could maybe actually sprout wings and fly. Instead he settled on a joyous half laugh when the old butler opened the door to Wayne Manor and welcomed him in the way that Alfred usually welcomed people. Richard felt like either crying or laughing. He settled for a mixture between the two, running towards the man that reminded him so much of a grandfather that he had never met. "Master Richard." Alfred always refused to call him anything other than his given name. Richard and Robin. Those were his two given names according to the butler, and _both_ of them deserved to be used.

Silently Richard agreed with him.

"Hey Al." He hated how weak his voice is, but the butler just smiled at him and held his arms open for a hug. Richard happily complied, almost throwing himself into the arms of the old man. He smiled into the butler's shoulder, knowing that Bruce was watching with a happy glint in his eyes. He knew the driver had been tipped generously and then told that he had the rest of the day off. And he knew that he would have to explain to both of them why exactly he wanted to come back. But it didn't seem to matter. Because Alfred seemed to know. "Welcome home, Master Richard."

_Welcome home_. "It's good to be back, Al." And then instead of Alfred leading him back into the house he was leading the butler back into the manor.

Everything looked the same. That just made him choke up even more than he already was. The table in the corner was the same table that it used to be. Bruce had a neat line of shoes at the door. Then Barbra had a pair that she always kept at the manor since she was over there more than she would have liked to admit. They were in a neat line next to Bruce's. Tim's shoes changed periodically since the kid liked to step into mud and other things more that Richard would have like to think about, those two being the only ones not in line. He nudged them over so that they were even with a small smile. He knew Bruce saw him.

"Where are the others?" He asked as though he had never left. Bruce smiled softly at him.

"At school." Richard nodded in response to his answer. He glanced into the kitchen and then into the living room and then up the stairs. "Go ahead." His mentor nodded up the stairs. "Go get yourself situated; I'll have Alfred call you when dinner's ready."

"Can I…" Richard paused to think of what he was saying. "I think I'm going to pick Tim up."

Bruce almost looked as though he was going to deny him his want. "I think that would be an excellent idea Master Richard. I was about to suggest such a thing myself." Richard smiled over at his mentor with the growing sense of pride that he had just won an argument. Then he was slightly confused. Such pride Richard hadn't felt in years.

"Fine." Bruce sighed, a small smile tugging at his lips. They were both unnaturally giddy. "But do you remember how to drive?" Richard scoffed at the raised eyebrow.

"Bruce, I drove the Red-Bird before I had a costume." The man had the sense to look abashed. "I think I can manage." A cocky smile was upon his face now. He felt as though he should burst out laughing, the thought that the was actually making jokes with someone who would easily joke back with him being almost too much. Raven had understood his jokes like the others hadn't, but she had made no effort to joke back. Which didn't make joking any the more fun. Richard had begun to think that the only people who would willingly joke back with him would be the villains like Red-X.

"Well you might want to get going now." Bruce fished out the keys from his pocket, tossing them at his previous side-kick with ease. Richard caught them with no difficulty, slipping his jacket back on and throwing a sly smirk at the billionaire. "Don't. _Don't_ even _think_ of taking the Lamborghini." Richard smiled at him coyly.

"Already thought it." Then he turned his back on his guardian before he could be yelled at, slipping out the door and gripping the keys he cradled in his hands tighter as he took in the cars he could choose from in the garage. He decided on the very car he was told not to take, knowing it would just aggravate Bruce. A surge of something filled his soul, would he get in trouble? It wasn't fear or anger or anything other than excitement.

He gripped the keys tighter, a slow smile filling up his face.

Excitement.

* * *

By the time Richard arrived at Tim's school it had just let out. There was a line of cars in the front of the school and a line of parents standing outside of the cars. The car he was driving was being stared at and it made him more happy than he would care to admit. He pulled into an open spot in front of the brick red school, stepping out of the car in way that could almost be seen as exaggerated. But the parents and siblings there didn't seem to care all that much, either they were too in shock over the car or over the person stepping out of said car. "Richie!" The familiar nickname caused his heart to jump into his throat and his hair was brushed out of his blue eyes.

"Hey Timmy!" The young Robin looked a bit like himself, actually, a mop of black hair on the boy's head. The main difference was their eyes, Tim's being hazel instead of blue. The boy wasn't much of a boy, only really being a few years younger than himself. It was Tim's last year in Middle School. It was also his second year as Batman's Robin. He seemed to be handling the lack of sleep much better than Richard had in his first two years. "How's it going?" The boy was staring at him, sizing him up a bit more than he would have liked.

Then they were hugging and Richard once again felt as though he was home. Tim pulled back with an awkward laugh. "I, uh… missed you."

"Yeah you too, kid." He ruffled Tim's familiar black hair with a rather large smile, and an unusual twinkle in his eye. "Ready to go?" The question was relatively familiar to both Robins and the younger boy's smile widened at his "brother". With that said they both climbed into the car, Tim only just realizing which car Richard had brought with him.

"Dude, seriously? You brought the _Lamborghini_? How'd you convince Bruce of that?" Tim's voice held the same tone that Bruce's had earlier, giddy teasing. Richard decided that he kind of liked it. He decided not to answer Tim's question, instead pushing the keys into the ignition and pulling out of his spot. "You _didn't _convince Bruce did you?" Tim asked halfway through their comfortable ride back to Wayne Manor. Richard, once again, decided it would be best not to answer, instead shooting Tim a look that said it all. And if Tim hadn't understood it then, he would have once he caught sight of the smile that had etched itself (almost permanently) upon the first Robin's face and the glint in his eyes. He laughed. Tim laughed louder than he had for _two whole years_.

When they arrived back at Wayne Manor there were two other cars parked in front. Out of one stepped a woman dressed in a beautiful pink summer dress that had Richard and Tim wondering why a woman her age was wearing something so short. Richard pulled his eyes away from the woman as he stepped out of the car, his eyes, instead, falling onto the person holding the door open for her. It wasn't Alfred. It wasn't anyone Richard even _remotely _knew. And yet, there was something in the back of his mind telling him that he had met this boy before.


	4. Chapter 4

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she spent all night watching Robin. -_-

_JennySam: _Aww, yay I made you smile! –parties-

_I-Love-Trunks1__:_ Haha. I'm happy you love it and can't wait for more. Well… here's more!

_freakyprincess-87__: _I'm happy you liked that Richard was locked out of the house. Yes, we are at Wayne Manor and the party's just startin'. Haha, well you'll have to read on to know if it's Red. –winks- I'm glad you like my song choice. It's reminded me of Red and Robin since I first heard it, and it doesn't help that in the music video the two main characters are thieves. But, honestly, thank you!

_Peeta's Lover__:_ If you find a song feel free to send it to me! I'd love it! Robin's around sixteen, which would make Barbara sixteen, yeah (I don't really know age differences since I'm kind of new to the fandom)? Tim's around thirteen. Hahaha, you always seem to point out things that I hadn't even realized I wrote! I love it. Like the whole "hiding his pain" thing. I really had no idea that that was what I wrote, but, after you point it out and I go back to read it I realize that it's actually true. And that makes me really happy. To the whole seducing Bruce thing… I don't really want to say anything because I might ruin something I don't mean to ruin… so… sorry that I can't really answer it! I'll just say that you're close to being right! Oh, I have plenty of ideas that have to do with how Robin's going to figure him out. And I know how Red's going to figure HIM out. I'll try to describe him to your satisfaction. Thank you!

_ShadowWolfDagger__:_ Let the drama begin! I think you should mix the Jaws and Jeopardy themes together and sing them at the same time. ;) But, yeah, I had originally written in Jason and then I got confused with the whole timeline between him and Richard and Tim and decided not to give myself that headache so I wrote him out. Which doesn't really make me happy. At all. But… oh well. –shrugs- Thank you!

* * *

"Dick this is Mister Shane Tyler. Mister Tyler, this is my son, Dick." Well this was certainly awkward. Shane jumped at his name, moving his eyes away from Richard Grayson (who was even prettier than the magazines made him look) and over to billionaire Bruce Wayne. Who was looking at both of them as though if they didn't make a move to shake hands or something that he'd beat them up or something. For some reason that scared Shane more than he would like to admit.

"Hi." Shane threw his hand out for a semi-awkward handshake and was flying high once Richard reluctantly shook it. The Grayson's hand was smaller than his, and warmer than his. There was a certain kind of callus that stood out on Richard's palm, the kind of calluses Freida had from gymnastics. His nails had a small amount of… well something underneath them. And yet there was something about them that was intimidating. There was something about the small family that Bruce Wayne had made that was intimidating. Not that Shane, or Red for that matter, would be able to place it.

"Hi." Richard was confused. And, well, more than a little aggravated. Bruce had to have forgotten to mention to him that they were having company over. He used to always do this sort of thing. He would get so caught up in being Batman that even _he_ would forget about his appointments. Which would have been humorous, if Richard didn't have to deal with the guests questioning stares whenever Bruce would show up late. And he usually had to make up excuses for Bruce too. Talk about annoying.

Then there was this "Mister Shane Tyler" character. There was just something about him that was causing Richard to believe that he was lying about his identity. It also didn't quell his ever growing aggravation that this "Mister Shane Tyler" had to have this smirk when he looked at him… which he hadn't stopped doing since Richard had escorted them into the Manor. This "Mister Shane Tyler" had light brown hair that was a shaggy mess and desperately needed to see some kind of hairstylist. His eyes were a different shade of brown. Dark chocolate. His two front teeth had a small gap between them. His clothes were elegant, but the way he was wearing them was as though they were uncomfortable. His skin was tan. Tanner than Richard could pretty much ever hope to be.

_But his smile_. There was something about that _damn smile_ was irked him to no end. It was as though this "Mister Shane Tyler" was smiling at him because he knew how much it was pissing him off.

His voice caused the biggest spark of remembrance, and Richard just couldn't place where he had heard it before. "Where're you from?" Bruce had sent the two of them out of the house, Richard's new job being to show around their new guest. It was kind of annoying. But Bruce _always_ did this. Tim was supposed to be with them, but Alfred had needed help and Tim had jumped to it about one millisecond before Richard had.

"We move around a lot." Mister Shane Tyler was deflecting his question. Richard clenched his fists tighter. He must have glanced over at Richard and noticed how much the answer bothered him because he quickly flew to fill in the blanks. "First we lived in Boston and then we stayed here for some bit and then we went to San Fran and-"

Shane was almost proud of himself when a small smile pulled itself across Richard's face, reluctantly… but it was a smile at least. Shane almost wished the Grayson hadn't given in so fast, the challenge it was to get it, the thrill that came with the persuasion of it was so intoxicating. The only person who had needed this much work to get a smile out of was Robin. And that was bad enough, even if it was slightly entertaining. But that small smile… it did something to his heart. Pulled at it more than he liked. "I mean where did you last live?" The annoyance was still in Richard's voice though.

"Oh." Shane shook his head to clear it from the fog. "We lived in Jump. Jump-"

"City." It seemed as though his voice had gained wistfulness and lost it all at the same time. "I stayed there for a bit." And then it occurred to Richard that maybe that was why everything about this Mister Shane Tyler seemed familiar.

"Weird." And Shane actually found it confusing. "I never once saw you. And I know every person who stayed in Jump."

Richard couldn't help but find that slightly funny. "No one can know everyone, Mister Tyler." They elapsed into a silence that was a bit comfortable and a bit tense and all around just had some small amount of familiarity. The way Richard called him Mister Tyler didn't make him happy. Not at all.

"Shane." He blurted out in the silence. He was trying to catch Richard off guard. He felt a tug of annoyance when it didn't seem to work.

"No one can know everything Shane." Richard turned to face him, his stunningly blue eyes surveying him for a bit. "Who knows, Shane. Maybe you actually did know me." Something in those blue eyes gave Shane the feeling that Richard was telling the truth. But Shane was pretty sure that he had never seen Richard Grayson once in his life. Other than in the tabloids that is. And he sure as hell didn't seem as much of an enigma that the papers made him out to be. He seemed worse. They stood there for a bit, staring at one another, waiting for _someone _to make a move.

Richard broke the eye contact first, a smile that he usually saved for reporters spread across his face. He flicked a piece of black hair out of his blue eyes with an ease that he could tell was pissing off Mister Sha-_Shane_. Good. That wasn't really what he was aiming for, but it was satisfactory anyway. "Let's go." He watched Shane pulled himself out of whatever reverie he was in as he stared at his face to look him fully in his eyes. "I'll show you your room."

"Wait." And Richard did wait, an eyebrow being raised in the same sort of ease that was filling Shane with déjà vu. "What's in there?" He pointed at the addition to the house that had a large garage door opening. Shane knew what must be in there. Cars. Lots of cars. But the real question was: _what _cars? In all honesty Shane really wanted to just stop himself from going back into the Wayne Manor. And having to see his mother at work. It wasn't something he enjoyed seeing.

"Cars, motorcycles… the whatnot." Richard shrugged, but there was a new light in his eyes. A light that made Shane mysteriously happy. Richard liked cars. In fact it seemed as though he loved cars. Shane liked cars. Plus one for Shane.

"What kinds?" Shane questioned easily as the two of them made their way over to the garage.

"Fully restored classics. Two Black Knights, '67 Chevy Impala, two Harley's, and the Lamborghini… things like that." Shane was truly in love with the cars and cycles. He ran a finger over the first cycle he saw.

"No way do you have two Black Knights. There were only one hundred for sale!" His hair fell into his eyes as he leaned over to observe them.

"Well I don't have them. Bruce does." Richard chuckled lightly as he seated himself on the Harley behind him. "But there were one hundred and one created, not one hundred."

"You help fix these?"

"Yeah."

"By yourself?"

"Jason used to help." He scratched the back of his head. "But he left a while back. Bruce would help… but he's kind of busy."

"I can help you." It wasn't that Shane really wanted to help him to work with him. Mainly he just wanted to help him so that he could maybe ride one of the bikes some day. But the prospect of being able to spend time with the enigma that was Richard Grayson was too much of a want for him to be able to pass up.

"I guess." And Richard had tilted his head a certain way and his blue eyes were sparkling under his black hair and Shane couldn't help but laugh because he had this distinct feeling that he was being teased. "If you're up for it."

"Oh I'm up for it."

* * *

Hey look, it's kind of a fast update! YAY SUMMER VACATION! –parties- And yay having a Robin marathon last night! Totally lead to be coming up with plot ideas for this story. So maybe there will be faster updates. They met. Be happy. And review to tell just how happy you are.


	5. Chapter 5

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she's well… bored. So… it's recently come to my attention that I screwed up Tim's age. By, like, three years. And I was wrong about Barbara's age. Just thought I'd let you know that those two little facts may make it AUish. But that's only because I don't feel all that comfortable making Tim Robin at eight years old. I don't think Bruce would have allowed it. At all. So… well… sorry if that aggravates anyone.

_freakyprincess-87__:_ Haha, I'm glad you like the fast update. I haven't actually figured out what his mom's deal is… I'll try to do that. -_- I'm glad I can be a bit more original by having them bond over cars. I'm also glad that you like my choice in name. Yeah… that's kind of reading too much into it, but we can live. It's a good plot. I might just use it. –winks-

_I-Love-Trunks1__:_ I'm happy that you're happy that they met! Thank you!

_Main Source of Annoyance__:_ So glad you still like it!

_ShadowWolfDagger__:_ Yeeeees! Someone noticed the Supernatural reference! Haha, I have no idea how that was funny, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hope I helped you.

_JennySam:_ Hahaha! Their interaction is rather entertaining, yeah? Oh my… I really messed up the ages, huh? Uhm… thanks for telling me. No idea how I'll fix that.

_PrincessAnnMacbeth__:_ Hope your plot bunnies are having fun! Glad I could make them happy enough to dance like Snoopy.

_Peeta's Lover_: Thank you so much for the songs! Creed's awesome. I'd say that Red's around seventeen, a bit older than Richard but not by much.

* * *

"So there's this goat on a cliff eating strawberries." It had the desired effect. Richard blinked up at Shane in confusion, but he had his attention now.

A cocky smile crossed Shane's face. "What?" Richard sat up; narrowly missing hitting his head on the car he had been laying under.

"How's the car going?" He handed the dark haired teen the bottle of water he was holding. He hadn't originally been thinking about the car, but Richard didn't need to know that. Originally he was thinking about how beautiful the slightly younger boy was.

Richard shrugged at him, pushing up from the ground and standing so that he could wipe off his hands with a dirty cloth. "It's going nowhere fast." He sighed, turning back around to face Shane with a small smile. "I'm sick and tired of working on it though."

Shane hid a laugh behind his own bottle of water. "Well you can't go anywhere today."

"And why not?" This banter was surprisingly familiar for a pair of teenage boys who had only known each other for about two weeks. Richard couldn't place it, but there was just some part of him that screamed out that he should know Shane from somewhere. The level of familiarity around them had alerted Bruce, Tim and Alfred that something was going on, but Richard wouldn't be able to tell any of them what it was until he could figure it out himself.

"Some charity party or something, Mr. Wayne told me to come tell you." Then there was the fact that something was going on lately between Bruce and Shane's mother. Shane hoped to God that his mother wasn't stupid enough to try to pull a heist on Bruce Wayne. The man may have been a billionaire, but he certainly wasn't stupid.

Richard moaned, throwing his head into his hands. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Shane didn't bother to hide the laugh that overcame him this time. "I have to go too. We can suffer together." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, congratulating himself when a small smile curved onto Richard's face. "Meanwhile, you need to take a shower."

Richard raised an eyebrow at him. "And why is that?"

"Other than the fact that you've been working under that car all day and stink?" Shane took another sip of his water, before noting that Richard had yet to drink from his bottle. "You have grease or something running down your face since you so gracefully threw your head into your hands." And Richard did. He had a brown line running from his blue eyes to his chin. And then he blushed and Shane couldn't help but say that he was slightly surprised by that. He hadn't actually been aiming at getting anything like that out of the boy.

"Ew." Richard muttered, picking up his water bottle and then making to leave the garage. "You have to change too."

"Yes I do. But, unlike you, I smell like peaches and cream and therefore don't have to take a shower."

"Perfume doesn't mask that much." Shane had to pause in order for what Richard said to sink in. He was insulting him. How dare he! Shane took off after him, yelling his name down the walkway into Wayne Manor only pausing by the trash can to see Richard's full water bottle sitting comfortably in it. Concern was the next thing he felt as he picked it out, replacing it with his own empty bottle. What the hell was going on with Richard Grayson?

* * *

He changed quickly, trying not to stay in the refreshing shower for too long. He knew what Bruce would be thinking if he did. He would think he was doing something like drowning himself. And that wouldn't be healthy for either one of them. Richard shook his hands after trying and failing five times to tie his tie. He hadn't done that in two years. He was out of practice. A sigh overcame him, as he pushed open the door. He was feeling incredibly tired today and he had little to no reason as to why he was feeling that way.

When he left the bathroom Richard could smell the food that was being placed out for the guests to eat. He wasn't all that hungry either, his stomach churning in the exact opposite way that it should have at the mere thought of food. He paused at Bruce's door, raising his hand to nock before he changed his mind. Bruce would be too busy getting himself ready.

So he went to the next best thing, Alfred. The old man was ready to help him, even lecturing him a bit when Richard admitted that he hadn't even bothered to practice tying it in the two years he was in Jump. "Go tell Mister Tyler that it is almost time for the guests to arrive." _So he should get down here_. Richard heard the part that Alfred wouldn't have said for it would break his gentleman personality.

"Will do, Al." The old butler sent him a familiar and proud smile as Richard jogged up the stairs and over to Shane's guest room. "Shane?" He knocked on the door and frowned when he got no answer. "Shane? You better be decent." He pushed open the door, frowning even more when he realized that no one was in the room. Richard turned around to leave when he caught sight of a familiar black piece of clothing out of the corner of the room. He glanced all around him, before he softly closed the door and made his way over to the piece of cloth sticking out of the drawer haphazardly.

The moment he touched it he knew. But Richard wasn't that kind of man. He needed to see the whole thing in order to believe it. His hands were shaking as he pulled open the drawer and took in the familiar suit that he had created. His heart beat faster and faster, his breathing took up speed and his hands began to sweat. He slammed the drawer closed in anger.

Red-X. _Shane was Red-X_.

* * *

The party would have been going fine if Richard wasn't trying to avoid Shane at all costs and if Shane wasn't trying to find him at all costs. It reminded him of their fights as Robin and Red-X. Every time one of them would move the other would counteract them. Not to mention that Richard was trying to avoid pesky reporters and females who wanted all of his attention too.

He was pretty numb at the moment, spending most of his time at the party trying to figure out what he should do about the current issue that was thrown his way. Should he tell Bruce? Tim? Barbra? Alfred? Should he make a call to Jump and risk the Titans finding out who he is by telling them that he had Red-X? Should he take him in? Should he do anything at all?

Richard sighed, running a hand down his face. This was all too much. He needed time to think. Either that or alcohol. One or the other would suffice. "Hey, Dick! Didn't know you were back." The only reporter Richard didn't mind.

"Hey Clark! What are you doing here?" Clark Kent, a writer for the Smallville Times. Also Superman and member of the Justice League. But the whole world didn't need to know that little secret.

"Trying to get a good story." Clark Kent smiled at him, his white teeth glistening in the light. Something Richard always envied about Superman, he really was super. Both in power and looks. And the immortal thing helped. "Mind giving me an interview?"

Richard scowled. "Yes." He stood up from his hiding spot in the corner.

"What's wrong, Dick? Thought you'd be happy to be home." Clark was worried, which made Richard feel guilty. Because no one should worry about him, he was fine.

"I am."

"But?"

Sometimes Richard hated it when people knew him too well. He always tried to avoid it. How the hell Clark knew him so well confused Richard to a slight annoyance. "But nothing. I'm fine, Clark."

Clark snorted at him, putting his small notebook and pen away in his pocket. "Oh right. You're just like Bruce. Both of you hide everything the same way. And both of you are destructive when you hide your problems. Sometimes the relation between you two makes me wonder if you're his real son." For some reason that gutted Richard and he took a step forward to set Superman straight. But then the world started shaking and spinning and going lopsided. "Whoa there." Clark gripped the previous Robin's arms to keep him from falling face forward. "Steady Dick." He forced him back into his chair. "Stay here. I'm going to go get Bruce." Richard was left alone in the corner of the dance room, and Shane was advancing towards him with a worried and determined look in his eye.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Shane demanded once he came close to Richard. Of course when the world's spinning and all Richard could really make out was the loud 'bum-bum' of his heart beat it sounded more along the lines of "Whveueedim?"

"I…" Richard tried, and failed. His throat was dry as hell and damn it why wouldn't the world stop spinning?

"Dick!" Bruce was briskly walking towards him, but it looked more like he was walking sideways. And then he was kneeling in front of him and the hall was silent and people were staring and reporters were taking pictures and everything was just too much. Everything turned off.

* * *

**A: N- **Mwahahahaha! I'm evil. Wonder what's happening to Richard, eh? And what's going to happen now that he knows about Shane being Red? Ooooh let the flames begin.


	6. Chapter 6

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she recently had a run in with the hospital and couldn't help thinking about how ironic it was that I made Richard have basically the same thing that my dad had to go to the hospital for. Ugh….

_69EmoGaaraFan69__:_ Yeah… Robin has a screwed up life. XD

_Peeta's Lover__:_ You know… I think this is one of my favorite reviews I have ever gotten. I don't take offence for you calling me a female dog. Not in the way you did anyway. You can't figure out what I did to him…? I mean there's going to be more to it but it's actually pretty anticlimactic too. Sorry that I kind of rushed the whole "Richard-figuring-out-who-Red-really-is" thing, but it seemed to fit there. Uhm… I've never written a sex scene… I'll get as far as I can, but it's kind of awkward for a 16 year old who's never even dated anyone before. Haha. But you also need to understand that they are teenagers. And I'm trying to take it slow. Even if I don't want to. XD. Yes… it is a tribute to the Paramore song. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

_PrincessAnnMacbeth_: You love me and my cliffhangers of doom. Who doesn't? Writers love them. They're the best things to write. I never said that Richard was poisoned. Don't jump to conclusions. ;) He was poisoned, I guess. In a way.

_I-Love-Trunks1__:_ I'm glad you love it! Oh read on in order to find out with Richard's going to do now that he knows that Shane's Red-X! Yay!

* * *

Richard woke up five times before he truly woke up enough for it to be considered waking up. The first time was when Bruce had placed his head in his lap on the ballroom floor. There were thousands of flashing lights and thousands of voices coming at him all at once. Someone had just placed a cold cloth on his forehead and Bruce was yelling out orders. Alfred's wrinkled and old face was staring down at him and the old man smiled at him when he noticed his blue eyes blinking up at him in a confused manner. "How are you feeling?" It seemed as though Bruce knew he was awake. Suddenly fear was clouding Richard's senses and he couldn't think straight. He couldn't see Bruce. He couldn't see much of anything other than the flashing lights. His consciousness disappeared not long after that.

The second time he woke up he was in an ambulance and Bruce was sitting next to him, gripping his hand in his own and rattling off to the EMT's about something. If Richard had been all there he would have been able to read Bruce's lips. Actually, if he was all there he would have been able to hear what was coming out of Bruce's mouth. But he couldn't. He didn't have all that much time to dwell on it either, quickly fading back into oblivion.

The third time was when the doctor shone a light in his eyes. He didn't see much else other than the blinding brightness. He heard things though. Above all else Richard heard Shane asking Bruce persistently about whether or not he was okay. For some reason that made him feel safer than he had before.

The fourth time was apparently ten minutes after he crashed. He felt panic, mainly, along with a vague sense of familiarity. But really Richard just wanted his parents. He didn't know who the person petting his hair was and he didn't recognize the voice. He blinked his eyes shut and asked for the only person who could make things better. "_Mommy_." He pretended he never heard the choke that sounded suspiciously sob-like from Bruce.

The fifth time he can't see a thing other than the dark outlines that he recognizes as Bruce and Alfred and the Doctor whom he vaguely remembered from the time he had spent here a long time ago. They were talking in hushed undertones, Bruce ranting seemingly in frustration, but Richard knew him well enough to say that it was in worry. A deep, intense worry that clenched in Richard's chest. "_Why can't you tell me what happened to him?_" Bruce's voice was becoming harder and harder and louder and louder.

"Richard is sixteen years old. I can't give any information on his well being until I get permission." Never mind, Richard didn't remember him. The doctor he remembered would know to look at the sheet where he had signed to say that the doctor could tell Bruce anything that was going on with him. Because if Bruce didn't know he would have to risk having Bruce kick his ass.

"_Get his permission_-?" Bruce was literally seething in anger and if Richard hadn't been so drugged a small laugh probably would have burst between his lips.

"What Master Bruce is trying to say, sir, is that Master Richard signed a paper on his last visit to your hospital that says that the doctor is allowed to give Master Bruce and myself any news that he sees fit." Oh leave Alfred to be the voice of truth and calm. "Moreover, Doctor, Master Richard's parents left him in the care of Bruce Wayne himself. Which begs the answer to the question, where is the Wayne family doctor: Doctor Rambalt who is also Master Richard's primary care physician?"

The doctor was probably stunned, but Richard couldn't really see anything other than their outlines. "Doctor Rambalt is busy with some of his other patients-"

"Tell him that Richard Grayson is the person admitted here." Bruce seemed to finally calm himself down. "He'll come."

"Bruce…" It had come out involuntarily and Richard couldn't really specify why he had said it.

He heard a large amount of shuffling and then someone nearly jumping on the side of his hospital bed and gripping his hand. "Dick? Hey." He felt a smooth hand running down the side of his face and then moving back up to rest in his hair. "How're you feeling, Dick?" Richard barely remembered this side of Bruce, the last time it showed up having been after the whole Slade incident.

"Wanna 'o 'ome." It was slurred and whispered and Richard wasn't even sure if Bruce had heard a thing that he said.

"I know, Dick. I know." He drifted off after that.

When he dreamed he dreamed that he was with his parents. They were performing their act and Richard was about to be called on. But something was wrong. He was a child again and soon the crowd was yelling and it didn't sound like cheering. The familiar dread that had overcome his being when it had first occurred was fast to return. He poked his small head out from behind the curtains. What he saw he hadn't even realized he saw.

His parents were lying in a pile of blood and more just kept pouring and pouring out of their heads. But, most of all, their eyes were wide and staring up at the roof. Then his mother's face turned towards him, her blue eyes not sparkling at all anymore. Blood was pouring out of her mouth as she said words that he couldn't understand. Words he couldn't make out. And then it was the family from Jump.

The blonde woman was looking right at him, her own mouth moving and speaking the same words as his mothers. But he couldn't understand them! If he could just get closer- "Dick?"

No. No. No. No. NO! Bruce couldn't be doing this! Not now! _Not again_! "Dick?" But the voice didn't belong to Bruce. It belonged to someone else. "Dickie?" No one called him that. No one had called him that since his mother's died. "Come on, Dickie wake up."

He blinked and the circus faded away. He was in a hospital, a room full of white. A single face was smiling down at him and Richard found himself smiling back, slightly. "Hey, Dickie."

"Shane?" His throat was dry and Shane Tyler had a glass full of water all ready to his mouth for him to swallow. "What're you doing here, Shane?" He wanted to refer to him as Red. But he knew that wouldn't be right.

"I thought it was customary for a friend to visit another friend when they're sick and in the hospital." Shane sat back in his chair, moving away from the comfortable spot on the bed where he must have been sitting before and placing the water on the table beside himself. "I've been known to be wrong though."

And, even though there was some small part of Richard's mind that told him that he needed to stop talking to him and to tell Bruce or Tim or Barbara or even Alfred about what he found out about Shane. But he didn't want to do that. Not yet. Not until he posed a threat.

"You all right Dickie?" He asked softly, glancing up at him through his eyelashes and sticking his thumb in his mouth so he could gnaw on his thumb nail.

Richard shook his head. "I don't know." He swallowed thickly, his eyes staying firmly on his clasped hands in his lap.

"Mr. Grayson! Nice to see you're awake." It was Doctor Rambalt, standing in the doorway gripping a clip board close and far away from his body. "Your vitals seem steady enough. Now, I'm going to have to tell your friend here to leave so we can tell you why you're here."

He almost felt like telling Shane to leave the room. "Where's Bruce?"

Doctor Rambalt sighed, shifting his clipboard so that it rested on top of Richard's left leg. "He's on his way, just stepped out for a bathroom break." He looked over at Shane, and then back over at Richard. "He can stay if you want him to. But Richard-"

"No, no I'll leave." Shane stood up quickly from his seat beside Richard's bed, tapping his hand and sending a smile his way as he left the room.

"Nice friend you've got there." Doctor Rambalt said to him with a small smile in his direction.

And suddenly Richard knew. He couldn't just give Shane up. He wouldn't just give Shane up. Especially when Shane had been there when he was in the hospital. None of the Titans were. Neither was Barbra. But, Shane… Shane was there when he hadn't needed to be. Of course it never occurred to Richard in that second that Barbra was away at college in New Jersey and the Titans didn't know who he really was. "You're okay?" Bruce charged into the room. He looked somewhere between angry and concerned and oddly happy.

"I'm okay." Richard whispered as Bruce came over to his side.

"He doesn't have to be here, Dick." Doctor Rambalt reminded him. When neither of them objected the Doctor continued. "Now I know the nature of your work and I know it can be very trying. But this time it has nothing to do with your work. I don't think so anyway."

"What do you mean, Doc?" Bruce asked for him, his older hand sliding down Richard's shoulder to grip the younger hand inside his own.

"You dehydrated yourself, Dick." The Doctor sighed. "We checked your blood work and found that you had been taking sleeping pills and one of the side effects of many kinds of sleeping pills is dehydration."

"Sleeping pills?" Bruce sounded confused at first, almost as though he couldn't believe what the doctor was saying. Then his eyes fell onto Richard and they turned angry. "_Sleeping pills_? What the hell do you need _sleeping pills_ for?"

"I…" Richard looked at the doctor for help.

"Mr. Wayne if you cause my patient any disturbance I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The doctor paused. "Now I'm guessing this is because of the nature of your work. But you need help, Dick. Right now we can prescribe you some milder sleeping pills but nothing's really proven to be good for any children and believe it or not you are still a child." The doctor stood up from his seat beside him. "We're going to keep you overnight in order to check to see if you're okay. If you're okay tomorrow I'll get your discharge ready." He left the room and Richard was left with Bruce. Alone.


	7. Chapter 7

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she really wanted to write.

_Peeta's Lover__:_ Oh your reviews make my day. No kid. Well… in researching the effects of sleeping pills there was one that was for changing in appetite. His change of appetite effected his want for water, so he became dehydrated. Your help would probably be greatly appreciated. But, if I do write it (and I kind of want to) it will be simple. I'VE HEARD THAT SONG! –dances- Haha. Dickie's secret will be discovered sometime around the same time the Titans arrive in Gotham. The family… sometime. As they contribute to the grand scheme of things.

_Mizu_: YAY! New readers! I love that two people have picked up on the Supernatural references. Hope you continue to enjoy the story.

_ShadowWolfDagger__:_ No WiFi connection makes me sad. It should be interesting, huh? The "nature of his work" is his job as Robin. The doctor's the "family doctor", so it would be only natural that he knew about his job.

_Tathwem Essenuejal_: Mat-Te-Hew I will only say it one more time. Richard seemingly poisoned himself. He was dehydrated because he took sleeping pills. Geez. Thanks for reviewing every chapter. Shane is spelt without a "y". The Lamborghini was a sort of pun to the new Batman movies where Alfred teases Bruce about the Lamborghini. It was one of his favorite cars. Actually there were/are around five Robins plus the ones in the alternate universes created DC. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.

_freakyprincess-87__:_ Yes, yes dehydration brought the mighty Robin number one down. Haha, yeah... sometimes Richard doesn't think things through. Soon some problems with his decision are going to present themselves. No… Dickie wasn't supposed to take all of those sleeping pills. They reacted badly to him. Yeah the doctor knew about him being Robin.

_I-Love-Trunks1__:_ Richard should be all right. Depends on where I end up going. Even I don't know. I'm glad you like it.

* * *

The first time Bruce Wayne met Richard Grayson he had just arrived back from a business trip to Australia. Well, that was the first time Bruce Wayne met Richard Grayson. The first time Batman met Richard Grayson it was the night of his parent's murders. Richard was just about to go to the police with the little bit of information he knew but Batman told him not to. The boy's blue eyes had been wide as saucers and his hair had been haphazardly sticking up in all directions. The sorrow and blatant anger for what had just happened reminded Bruce and Batman of what had happened to him as a child.

This time wasn't very different. Except, of course, there was no blatant anger, instead, there was fear and shame.

Bruce was never one to be imagined into fatherhood but he did the best he could. And he would like to have thought that he knew something was wrong with his eldest "child". Obviously two years away from each other had dulled both of their senses. "You and I need to talk, Richard." His voice was stone cold. Even if he was trying his best not to sound so angry.

"Look Bruce-"

"No, no. This is enough, Richard." Bruce was aware that he never had called his ward by his full first name in a long time and he was aware that he was acting very much like his mother had acted whenever he was angry at him. Bruce collapsed into the chair beside Richard, his hand running down his face. "I never once asked you why you came back, Richard. And I wasn't planning on it. But this…" He gestured around the room. "This is too much."

Richard felt as though he should explain… somehow. If only he could figure out how! "Look, Bruce… I'm sorry-"

"And you should be sorry, Dick. Do you have any idea what you put me through? I was worrying my ass off over you! I had to deal with the press and the family and the few friends that you do have, which let me tell you that Shane is annoying as hell." Bruce was frantic and Richard knew that he shouldn't be finding it funny but it was a sight that was barely ever shown and was largely entertaining once shown. "Tim's been out of his mind with worry. Barbara called and chewed me out, so did Jason go figure. And then I had to hear it all from Clark too. Him yelling at me and telling me that it's all my fault that you've fallen on your ass here because I taught you how not to show your emotions."

"What about Alfred?" Richard hoped to heaven his voice didn't quiver in the humor he was feeling.

Bruce looked at him as though he just realized he was there. "Alfred? Oh he yelled at me too. But I think he's more looking forward to yelling at you once you get home. He's going to be on your back for the rest of your life about sleeping patterns and water."

Richard cracked a small smile, gazing down at his hands which were bundled in his lap. He always hated hospitals. Why did they always have to be so white? Why couldn't there be any amount of color? So bland and boring. "But that's not the point."

"No… not really." Bruce sighed once more, looking over at Richard with a sort of dull look in his eyes. All traces of anger were seemingly pushed back. "I'm not going to force you to tell me what happened. Not yet. But I am going to force you to sleep normally. No pills. No nothing. We're going to get you off those things."

"Bruce-"

"No, Richard this isn't a request. This is an order." He leaned close so that he was practically nose to nose with the teen. "From Batman to Robin. No more sleeping pills. You are done with them."

"_You_ take sleeping pills!" Richard was indignant and fiercely angry.

"The difference between you and me, Ro-Dick: I'm an adult. You're not. And that constitutes-"

"That constitutes to _nothing_!"

"This argument doesn't matter anyway." Bruce growled. "It's not like Alfred's going to let us keep any in the house." Richard huffed, sitting back against the hospital bed, his arms crossed defiantly over his chest. He must have drifted off sometime after that because when he woke up it was night time and instead of Bruce sitting beside him Shane was, _Red-X_ was, with a comic book propped open in his lap.

"How's it poppin' Dickie?" He asked with a smirk in his direction. Shane had barely lifted his eyes up from the comic book- X Men or something. Richard noted with a small amount of insanity how it was sort of ironic. Shane was Red-X and he was reading X Men. Interesting. But other than that small factoid Shane looked pretty good. Better than he had the last time Richard had seen him. His brown hair was clean and still was in need of a cut. But it wasn't as much of a shaggy mess it had been only a few days before. The tee shirt he was wearing hugged his chest perfectly as his jean clad legs lay crossed and comfortably laying on top of Richard's bed.

"Where do you get off calling me that?" The indignant answer wasn't exactly what he was aiming for but it worked.

Shane uncrossed his legs enough to nudge Richard with his sock covered feet. "Wow. Mr. Wayne said you might be pissy but damn. What oversized rodent crawled up your ass and died?" For a second fear overcame Richard's senses, did he know? How could he know?

"What?" He almost squeaked out the question, but instead it sounded like a horrible impersonation of Bruce's angry man tone that he had been using earlier on in the day.

Shane actually looked him full on and dead in the eyes; his eyebrow was raised in a cocky question. And then he laughed a bit. "We're in Gotham City, idiot. Batman."

Richard let out a long breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. He swallowed and gazed down at his hands that sat boringly in his lap. "Oh." He heard Shane sigh and shift so that his feet banged with a clang on the hospital's boring white floor.

"Listen Dickie-"

"Why- _Why_ do you call me that?" And suddenly he was tearing up, because there were only two people in the world that called him that and they were both dead. Barbara had called him that once. He had pushed himself into a deep silence for about two weeks. Jason called him that once too, as a taunt. Richard had punched him square in the nose and broke it. Now Shane, _Red-X_, was calling him it and he was on the verge of tears. Anyone else notice the weirdness of that situation?

Shane sat up so that he could more easily look into Richard's face and what he saw there didn't make him any happier. It actually made him even more confused when it came to Richard Grayson than he was before. Tears were in his blue eyes but he was doing a pretty good job of holding them back. "Why shouldn't I?" It wasn't asked in anything other than mere curiosity.

Richard turned his head away from Shane, furiously swiping at his eyes. "Never mind." He muttered, hiding a glare as he picked at a loose thread at the end of the bedspread.

"All right…" Shane sighed, sitting back in the chair and giving the younger boy some room to breathe. "So… Doc tell you what's up?" That wasn't what Richard wanted to talk about either, but it wouldn't matter either way. He would find out sometime, best if it was from him.

"Dehydration." Shane hummed, staring at Richard from over his comic book, knowing (somehow) that there was more to it. "Sleeping pills. They induced dehydration."

"Induced dehydration…? You quoting the Doc or is that your immense brain showing through?" Richard decided not to give that an answer. "Okay, humor not appreciated. I get it. Cold shoulder is _not_ needed." Richard noted that there was a small amount of aggravation coating Shane's usually teasing voice. A spur of emotion and accomplishment filled the previous Robin's senses, he missed this from his time as Robin. The feeling you get knowing that you through fully was getting into someone's mind, the rush that you get when you know that you are _that close_ to pushing them over the edge.

"Mm, well my shoulder enjoys being cold." He said with a small smirk. The aggravation slowly disappeared from Shane's face as he let way for a smile.

"Well then your shoulder's an idiot. Because now I'm going to have to warm it up." Shane let his hand fall gently onto Richard's shoulder and just left it there. And, strangely, that was comfortable. Richard had never figured Red-X to be all for physical affection, but he had never really thought about it either.

Shane jumped as a voice invaded their comfortable silence. "Richard John Grayson tell me why I shouldn't kick your ass!" Out of all the things Shane expected to see on Richard's face after that little explanation a smile wasn't one of them. The girl who had barged into the room had hair that matched a carrot and about a hundred freckles specked across her nose. She had sparkling green eyes and wore an absolute pissed and worried frown on her face.

"Because you love my ass." Richard answered easily. Shane found himself surprised. This side of Richard… he never knew this side of Richard. He never expected this side of Richard.

"Doesn't mean I can't kick it." She walked over to him, promptly slapping him upside the head, smiling once she heard a laugh. Shane decided he liked her. She turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing and a small smile bursting across her freckled face. "Hi! I'm Barbara Gordon, Bahbs to my friends."

"Shane Tyler. Shwa to my friends." It was honestly one of the single stupidest thing he had ever come up with.

Barbara didn't seem fazed in the slightest. "Well Shwa, wasn't Dick being an idiot when he took enough sleeping pills to get himself dehydrated?"

"Yes. He was."

"You're double teaming me?" Richard actually didn't seem so surprised. "Really Bahbs?"

"Really." She frowned before settling in next to him on the bed. "Did Bruce freak out on you?"

Richard nodded solemnly, never once really pushing away Shane's hand, not that it would have bothered Shane if he had. "He ordered me not to have any more."

"Sometimes that man irks me." Barbara shifted in her seat, sighing slightly angry. It seemed to Shane that they had had this conversation plenty of times before.

"That man irks me in general." Shane piped in, noting how Richard's mouth twitched in a small smile.

"Come on, Bruce is trying." Richard defended his guardian without really trying.

"Yeah well…" Barbara relaxed, picking Shane's comic book out of his fingers and opening to the first page to start reading. "If the same shit that happened with Jason happens to you… I'll kill him."


	8. Chapter 8

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she is putting off homework that she really needs to do.

* * *

_I-Love-Trunks1:_ Thank you! I hope you'll continue to love it as time goes on.

_Tathwem Essenuejal:_ Jason was/is the second Robin. He was the one that no one really liked and therefore he got killed off. Or something like that…. Yay filler chapters! And what kind of action are you talking about? I'm planning on taking it slow.

_Peeta's Lover:_ As I said to the person above you… Jason was/is the second Robin. Yes Red was making a joke in the middle of the chapter. It wasn't really meant as much more but I guess I could turn it into more… hmm… interesting thoughts you've filled me with. Well I didn't mean simple in the term simple. I meant simple as in… not overly graphic or something that'll make me blush and hide in my room for a long amount of time. I've actually had some of the scene plotted out for a long time now. I'm glad for the help… really, I'm freakin' ecstatic. –sighs- I guess I can forgive your crankiness for a nice long review. –hints- Love you too.

_Mizu:_ Oh my, I go out of my way to make subtle SPN references in most of my stories. I'm glad you liked it.

_ShadowWolfDagger_: I'm surprised you like chapter so much since it was just a filler. XD Well that quote should be explained… later… if I feel like explaining it.

_TeaFanatic:_ YES! A new reader! I love getting those! Oh my goodness your review made me majorly happy and blushie and all around giddy. It affected me all yesterday. I'm planning on continuing it… I just didn't feel like writing the new chapter. Yeah… true. Some of the stories are quite horrible… but children was what the show was really aimed for… and… never mind I can't say that since I'm basically still a child….

* * *

It was about two weeks after Richard got released out of the hospital that Bruce walked in on him having a nightmare. He had been tossing and turning and the sheets were wrapped tightly around his legs pinning them to the bed beneath him. More than once Richard had forgotten to fall asleep and this night had been no real difference. Shane had camped out in his room that night, the two of them having a very heated conversation about whether or not Mal and Simon were a real pairing (or canon in the world of Shane Tyler) in the show Firefly or if it was all subtext. Shane had fallen asleep at around two in the morning, leaving Richard to his own devious and frustrating thoughts that either surrounded around Robin, the Titans, his parents and the circus, or the very young man who was both Shane Tyler and Red-X. He had angrily rolled over to his side, turning his back on the thief and fitfully falling into a nightmare.

He had been having the same one ever since he came back. First it would be his parents dead, and then it would be Bruce, or maybe Alfred or Tim or Jason or Barbara. Once he even dreamt that it was Shane. The more he had them the more the dream threatened to break his mind. He had woken up more than once in a daze and a small scream. This time was the worst.

Instead of Richard being behind the curtains of the circus he was the main attraction. People had come from all over in order to lay an eye on him and his parents. They had just finished the act and everyone was clapping and cheering. Then two loud shots. Richard didn't have time to react as his parents collapsed onto the ground, their eyes wide open and blood dripping into them and down their faces and then into their open mouths. Richard had felt fear. Deep numbing fear as the face of this father changed to Bruce, as his mother changed into Barbara, and then Tim and Jason and, lastly, Shane. One last gunshot rang through the tent.

Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

"Dick!" He realized that he was screaming and his eyes were screwed shut. When he blinked them open he saw that Bruce was kneeling on the floor beside his bed and Tim was in the doorway and Shane was sitting on the bed next to him. Alfred was standing behind the young Robin, his voice quickly ushering everyone but Bruce out of the room. Shane's hand lingered on top of his for a moment and Richard's mind numbly noted that it had not been there when he had fallen asleep. He shut his blue eyes quickly and tightly, but all he saw were their faces, covered in blood and their mouths moving to words that he could not hear. "Hey, hey, hey." Bruce's hands were gripping his arms so that they were pinned to his sides. "That's enough. This is enough. I need to know."

"They're dead." Richard whispered, seemingly not hearing a word Bruce had uttered. "They're dead, they're dead, they're dead."

"Who's dead?" Bruce's voice had run over into a worried for about a second. "Come on, Robin I need you to tell me."

Richard shook his head. "Mom, dad. Dead." He let out a cruel laugh, tears overwhelming his blue eyed gaze.

Bruce's eyes took a softer edge to them. "Ro-"

"He's dead too." He looked up mournfully at his guardian and mentor and one lone tear trickled down his cheek. Richard looked Bruce dead in the eyes, noticing how the older man had seemingly lost his breath. "Robin's dead, Batman. He ain't ever coming back."

* * *

Shane had no idea what made Wayne Manor seem as though it was mourning someone but, for some reason, that's what the air felt like for the next few days. It was hard to find anyone out of the Wayne makeshift family that wasn't moping for one reason or another. Alfred seemed depressed and angry and overly anxious to make Richard feel better. Richard seemed embarrassed and aggravated. Tim seemed like he needed to fill someone's shoes and Bruce seemed as though he had failed someone and like a mourning father. It made Shane wonder just what had happened between the two of them after Richard's nightmare. And it made him wonder just who this Jason kid was. Did he die or something?

Shane's mother, on the other hand, was taking advantage of the situation. For some reason that aggravated Shane more than he would care to admit.

"Hey, Shane." Richard said softly, standing in the doorway that lead into the pool area.

"How's it goin'?" Shane asked lightly, a smile subconsciously spreading across his face.

He turned around to face the younger teen, noting how he was wearing jeans and a dark blue T-shirt and how Richard's hair was flat against his forehead. "It's going." His voice was soft as he treaded over to Shane's side with a towel in his hands. Shane remembered, at that moment, that he had been swimming in the pool and was, currently, soaked to the bone in his swimming trunks. "Here." His voice was still soft as he sat down beside Shane, his feet kicking out at the water, the edge of his jeans becoming covered in water. Their hands lied close to one another, the pinkies brushing lightly as Shane observed Richard.

"What's going on with you?" His voice was unnaturally soft.

Richard let out a sigh that caused his straight black bangs to fly up into the air. "My parents died when I was eight."

"Dickie…"

"A circus accident." A small smile overcame his features, brightening them for a moment as Shane rubbed down his hair, placing the towel around his shoulders and intentionally placing his pinky over Richard's. "It was such a nice day and it had been so much fun. I played with the baby elephant and the tiger cub. Under the watchful eye of the older members, of course."

"Of course."

"They were my best friends." Richard sighed, running his hand in his hair and shaking his head at the same time. "But… well my best friend was the trapeze." A wistful smile and a sideways glance. "Mom and Dad said I was gifted and… well everyone agreed."

"Listen… Dickie you don't have to tell me any of this-"

Richard nudged Shane's hand with his own, letting it wiggle it's way underneath Red-X's. "Well I have to tell someone." Richard muttered. "Anyway… so I was gifted on the trapeze. It was the biggest show of the night and I was going to perform for my debut in Gotham City that night. A-and then there was the snap. It kind of echoed through the whole tent. A…" He rubbed a fist against his eyes. "And then there was a loud band. There was blood… _everywhere. _It seeped onto my feet and sloshed across my ankles. It was wet and it was sticky and it was warm and it was…" His voice finally broke and Shane squeezed his hand gently, his hand leaving Richard's to rest on his back comfortably.

"My dad died of cancer four years ago. After that... well my mom and I have been traveling ever since." Shane moved his hand up and down Richard's back lightly, pulling him into his side with a gentle smile.

"Batman saved me after some cops tried to kill me."

"Batman saved you?" Shane had stiffened a bit, anticipation clawing at his heart. If there was anyone's identity he wanted to know it was Batman's. Batman and, above all else, Robin's.

"Yeah. It was fun… being basically 'forced' into the Batmobile. I stayed in the cave for around three days until Br-Batman released me. I gave a public statement and cleared his name. Soon after it was figured out that I was left in the care of Wayne Enterprises and I moved in with Bruce." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "About two years ago I went to Jump for a bit. I was visiting some old friends from the circus that lived there…. The murder there…." Richard shook his head.

"A freak accident."

"Yeah…" Richard breathed out.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, Richard leaning into Shane's wet side. "Hey Dickie?"

"Hmm?" The shorter teen hummed.

"I really, really like you." They were close, their faces mere millimeters apart. It wasn't a light brush of lips, but really a gentle crushing. It was soft and hard and wet and dry. There were teeth and tongues and Shane's hands were gripping him tightly. The thief pulled the hero into his lap, one of his hands running up his back to go up Richard's shirt. And then-

"Oh hello! You must be Richard! I'm Starfire!"

_Shit.

* * *

_

**A:N- **Not my best romance scene, and not my best chapter. Sorry 'bout that all._  
_


	9. Chapter 9

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she got a shit load of reviews for the last chapter and it made her really want to write this one.

_Renee430:_ I don't like Starfire that's why she has such bad timing. XD Thanks for reviewing!

_kiki89:_ Starfire got there sometime before that kiss. Yes, yes more about Shane. Such an interesting secret he's trying to keep.

_69EmoGaaraFan69:_ If there is one mood killer it's Starfire.

_Jossi-kun:_ It's not going to be pretty when he figures it out. Which is this chapter… go figure.

_ShadowWolfDagger:_ Lovely now, the ending left you speechless, eh? Why exactly was that? Jason, as far as I know, is going to live in this story until around the very end. In the comics Jason wasn't killed until Dick was Nightwing and I'm going to try my hardest to keep that true. So… I'm keeping part of Jason's story and not all of it.

_I-Love-Trunks1:_ Yay! Read on to find out!

_TeaFanatic:_ -Blushes- It didn't come out douchy; it just pushed me into wanting to write it. Reviews tend to make me do that. I love the epic romance, I love the fluffy romance, I love romance in general. So… if there are some overly fluffy scenes don't die or leave me. Yay! I did well without even being aware that I did well! I actually thought that the kiss was extremely random, but whatevs! No one complained so that's a good thing. Oh morbidity is oddly fun to write, I wanted to add more but then I realized that it was rated T. XD I chalk up the "blood sloshing around my ankles" thing to Dick's overemotional account. I mean… in this story he was only eight when they died and the remnants aren't exactly the happiest things. Oh he's close. He's darn close.

_Mizu:_ Starfire really does ruin everything, eh? I'm glad you liked it.

_Talenyn01:_ I'll try not to be so hard on myself…. I'm glad the ending entertained you, since that wasn't really what I was aiming for. But I was laughing myself so I don't know what I'm talking about. I'll shut up now.

_JennySam:_ Starfire doesn't enjoy their moments. She's jealous. Oh he sure is keeping up with his files. He wouldn't be Shane if he wasn't.

_Peeta's Lover:_ I'm guessing you don't like Starfire very much. Well neither do I. This was the best chapter…? Uh… why? I wrote it quickly. Aha. Star wouldn't be jealous of Shane because she doesn't know who Robin really is. She just thinks of him as Robin. Nor does she know who Shane really is. So… she's not jealous. Yet. There will be more about Jason, and more about Shane's mother. If you can be patient than be patient. No sex until they actually get to know each other and date for more than two seconds. They aren't even dating yet…. I'm rubbing off on you. That's what you were trying to say. You called Red Shane throughout the entirety of the review. Loved it. –Pokes in the eye-

_Main Source of Annoyance:_ Starfire's probably the worst mood killer ever. Dickie-Bird huh? I like that.

_Dark-Angel-Princess 01:_ Yay! It's the same for me; I'm horribly obsessed with Dick Grayson. Tim and Jason are okay. But… eh. Thanks for reading!

It was only after the introductions of the team he already knew when Richard finally got some time to speak to Bruce alone. And when he did he wouldn't have called it a nice conversation. "What are they doing here?" His voice was falsely calm, but there was a hardness of his jaw that was barely able to be seen. There was a stiffness of his back and a clenching of his fists that no one other than Bruce would be able to notice and take for what it was. Richard Grayson was pissed. And scared. But mostly pissed.

"They just arrived, Dick." Bruce said calmly as he straightened the picture frame that sat on top of the fire mantle.

"Did they?" The question wasn't one to be answered. "I meant what are they doing _here_?"

"Dick-"

"Let's be clear, Bruce. I'm not trying to have this conversation with you. I'm having this conversation with Batman. So if you don't mind stepping to the side for the moment." Yes his anger was showing through. And yes it was working successfully in making his mentor as angry as he wanted to make him. "_What are they doing here_?"

Bruce's dark eyes hardened until they didn't belong to Bruce Wayne anymore. Richard crossed his arms in smug manner. "You know the circus. There have been four murderers there in the past two years, Robin. This team has come the closest to catching the culprits so far."

Richard scowled at the man before him. "Why do you insist on ignoring my question? What the hell are they doing in Gotham?"

"They were under the impression that they could get their leader back by talking to me." Bruce fixed him with a level and stern look. "That and the circus they're following has just entered Gotham. They're chasing after the murders."

"_Murder_. There's only one."

"And how do you know that?"

"How do you know that there's more than one?" They were silent for a while after that. "Why are they staying with us?"

"Bruce Wayne owed Batman a favor." Bruce reached to straighten his tie.

"Bruce Wayne owes no one favors." Richard snorted, leaning against the doorframe.

Bruce looked back at him with a smirk crossing his lips. "That you know of." He sighed when he turned around fully, fixing Richard with a look that said 'trust me'. "Batman saved me that time that the Manor was on fire."

"Was Alfred home?" He knew he was being briefed and decided it would be good if they all knew the specifics.

"Hmm, no. I very well don't think he was. It was around Christmas time, I sent everyone home for a vacation. Oh hello Shane." Bruce's voice turned much more businesslike once he turned around to face the doorway Richard was leaning casually against. "Didn't realize you were there."

"Oh I just got here." Which was very much a lie on Shane's part but he figured no one but him needed to know about that at the moment. He tried to keep his voice light and calm but he figured neither Richard nor Bruce heard much of it. They were too busy staring each other down.

"Let's continue this conversation in my study after the Masquerade tonight, Dick." It wasn't a request and it didn't come out as one. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to." He told him before he left the room, leaving Richard with the feeling that Bruce really wanted him to go back to being the Robin he had raised. It didn't make for a better mood.

"A Masquerade?" Shane's voice quivered in fear.

Richard spared him a hardened glance which left Shane wondering just how he didn't make the connection until now that Richard was the Robin he knew and didn't love. Definitely. Did. Not. Love. And then the hardness was gone and in its place was nothing short of annoyance and exasperation. "A Masquerade? Bruce what the hell!"

"Starts at five boys. I'd get ready if I were you." Bruce said as he passed them.

"I don't have anything to wear to a _Masquerade_! I don't think Shane does either!"

"Alfred already set the suits out for you. I left four masks to choose from. Leave one for Barbara would you? Winter vacation just started for her school. Speaking of school's…" he turned around to face Richard. "You'll be starting lessons once January starts. Got it?"

"Bruce…."

"No whining. Go. Get ready. You have around two hours."

* * *

Shane wondered when he should tell him that he knew. It was clear, however, that while they were changing wasn't exactly the best time. It would save him from being killed if he did tell him now but Shane wasn't quite sure he wanted to say anything. It would be better just to keep his mouth shut. He could get more information out of him if he did that.

Yet there was this small part of his mind that didn't want to use Richard. It was the same part of his mind that had liked him. Which was pretty much all of his mind. It was all rather confusing to think about while he was putting on a tie so he simply stopped thinking of it.

"I hate masks." Richard said gruffly as he gazed at the four that were glaring up at him. None of them were anything like the one he had worn for two years straight in Jump and none of them were surprisingly simple either. The mask he set aside for Barbara was one that he decided neither him nor Shane would look good in. It was rather beautiful though. Light gold covered the forehead and area under the eyes but surrounding the eyes and outlining the mask was a glittery black. Off to the right side of the mask were feathers. Richard was pretty sure the mask would look beautiful on Barbara.

Shane stood beside him, both of them in pressed black suites with a white dress shirt. "What tie?" Shane asked a bit stiffly happy now that he knew how to act. It didn't seem to fool Richard though but Shane was thankful when he didn't say anything.

Black, blue and gold silk ties were being held up for inspection and Richard wordlessly gestured to the masks. "Depends on which one you decide to wear."

"I'll take the black one."

"Which black one? There are two."

"The black and gold one."

"Then wear the gold tie."

Shane didn't know if he was pleasantly surprised or what when it occurred to him how easily he was conversing with his enemy. It left him feeling slightly queasy on the inside. And then a thought struck him. "Oh God no."

"What?" Richard chose a black tie for himself going after the black and white mask.

"I'm going to have dance aren't I?"

"Yes."

"It was rhetorical."

"I had an answer."

"I didn't ask for one."

"Doesn't mean it didn't need to be said." Richard shrugged coming over to stand in front of him, his tie handing over his shoulder as Shane scowled. "Oh cheer up, I can teach you."

"In an hour? I don't think anyone can learn how to dance in an hour."

"It'll be a crash course." Richard threw the tie down on the bed, walking around Shane to shut the door and then turning on the radio to some classical crap (in Shane's opinion. Classical music really wasn't his forte.).

"I never agreed to this."

Richard shrugged, turning back to the tie and clumsily attempting to put it on. Shane stared at him for all of a minute before sighing angrily. "Fine! Teach me how to dance."

The small smile he got in return made his heart sore, which, of course, made his brain scowl at it. Why hearts did so many traitorous things was beyond him. "Come 'ere." Richard gestured with his hand. "Lead or follow?"

"You're more the girl." Shane said with cockiness coating his voice. At Richard's raised eyebrow he corrected himself. "Lead." When the ex-Robin grabbed his hand Shane couldn't ignore the little shriek that almost spurted out of his mouth. "What are you doing?"

"This hand goes here." Richard placed Shane's hand on the exact spot he had placed it earlier that day on his waist. It made both of them shiver and Shane noted how Richard swallowed before grabbing Shane's other hand in his own and raising them. His other hand landed on Shane's shoulder. "Take a step forward with your left foot."

After that it was pretty much one of the single most embarrassing and intimate things Shane had ever done with someone he was supposed to hate. Dancing was surprisingly easy for Shane to pick up and he found himself wanting to take back what he said about no one being able to learn in an hour. The two of them were standing so close though, and Shane wanted to kiss Richard again so much that taking it back didn't occur to him as more than a footnote.

It was a light brush of lips, sweet, serine. Everything that he never would have expected to share with Robin. It was nice. And there was going to be a second but then the door opened and the two of them jumped away from each other. Barbara and Shane's mother stood in the doorway. Barbara looked almost all knowing whereas his mother looked confused. "Which one's mine?" Barbara asked, her eyes never straying from their clasped hands that were resting near their sides. Richard blushed and tugged his hand out of Shane's, clearing his throat and gesturing at the feathery mask out of the batch.

"Thought you'd like that one." His voice was slightly higher than normal but no one seemed to want to call him on it.

"Oh you know me so well, Dick. Gunna match my dress perfectly!" She practically squealed before picking up the mask with gentle hands. "I'm going to go change. See ya there Shwa." She winked at him, herding both herself and Shane's mother out of the room with a devious wink in their direction.

Both of them blushed again.

"We should take her advice." Richard said softly his hand running down his head and messing up some of his hair before he reached down to take hold of his own mask and tie.

Shane just sighed before picking up his own.

* * *

The Masquerade was probably the most boring thing Shane had ever been to in his life. The mask was itchy and hot and he thought it looked damn ugly. He found himself instantly longing for his comfortable Red-X mask that he hadn't worn once since showing up in Gotham. He hadn't done anything with Red-X since he got in Gotham to be honest. He was starting to miss his late night robberies.

He leveled his gaze on Richard who was dancing easily with Barbara, the both of them laughing at something Bruce Wayne said from his spot next to them. Mr. Wayne was dancing with Shane's mother nicely. He was starting to feel a little left out of the group when Barbara detached herself from Richard and walked over to him just as a new song started up. This one had words. Shane wasn't sure if he preferred it over the classical crap that had been playing for the majority of the party. _Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones?__I guess that we were once, babe, we were once.__But luck'll leave you cause it is a faithless friend._ It was an all right song, Shane thought bitterly. At least the singer had a good voice.

Barbara grabbed hold of his sleeve and dragged him over to Richard. "Dance." She ordered before leaving them once more. Richard looked after her with shock written all over his face. _So hold on to me tight, hold on to me tonight__. __We are stronger here together__, t__han we could ever be alone.__So, hold on to me, don't you ever let me go. _

"Well we going to dance?" Shane was a bit aggressive and he didn't like how some people on the sidelines were sending them questionable looks.

"Do you want to?" Richard sounded shocked when his blue eyes landed on Shane.

Shane shrugged taking the job of setting them up so that they didn't look like complete fools standing in the middle of the dance floor. _Maybe all the plans we made might not work out__. __But I have no doubt, even though it's hard to see__. __I've got faith in us and I believe in you and me._ "Do you do this a lot?"

"Dance?" Richard asked lightly. "A bit. Haven't in around two years though. There aren't as many parties that require dances like this in Jump."

"Oh I know." Shane couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Not like you got to go to any. You were too busy."

He was expected anything but the flash of recognition. Then again this was Robin he was dancing with. Which made his stomach clench in a way that left him both wanting to pull the boy closer and push him away. Thankfully he didn't get the chance to do any because just then a gun shot rang out through the hall. _Hold on to me… tonight. __Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones?

* * *

_

The moment Shane tore his eyes from Richard's arm he noticed that the boy's face had gone a shade of white that wasn't healthy for anyway. Shane followed his line of sight and felt his heart drop. Bruce Wayne was laying in a pool of blood. Faintly he heard someone scream out to call 9-1-1 before he turned back to where Richard was supposed to be. But he wasn't there.

Richard wasn't behind him.

Richard wasn't near his bleeding guardian.

Richard was sprinting after the shooters.

Wait… _shooters_?

Red-X was the person who snapped into action to chase after Robin desperately. Three more gun shots. Loud and deafening. Three random members of the party shot down where they stood. _Where was Robin_?

He caught sight of one of the shooters long enough to see something slam down on him from above. Red-X winced; he hated it when Robin used to do that to him. But the fighting was impressive to watch. And watch he did. Shocked watching. He didn't expect Richard to turn into this after seeing Bruce Wayne go down.

He really hadn't expected any of this.

"Duck!" It was Richard's Robin voice that yelled out at him and he found himself doing just that, grabbing the little girl standing off to the side to fall down to the ground next to him. Four more gunshots and plenty of more screams later and Robin had skillfully flipped someone onto the ground in a move that probably left the man with a broken leg. The man's gun was kicked over the edge. One of the other men grabbed him by the back but Robin just flipped over him and kicked him into the railing and almost over the edge. Instead the man just got smacked in the head by a very powerful fist.

It was over when the alarms rang. Robin shared a special glance with him before he stood up on the railing and jumped clearly off the edge. Red-X ran over to where he had just jumped from long enough to see him exiting his room with a different mask on.

He didn't really know how to feel after that.

* * *

**A:N-** Can get as many reviews as I got for last chapter? Hehe. By the way, my fight scenes SUCK!

The song Shane and Richard were dancing to is "Hold on" by Michael Buble.


	10. Chapter 10

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she just started Junior Year and decided that she should celebrate the occasion of making it through the first week alive by writing another chapter of this. So… enjoy.

_Dark-Angel-Princess 01_: Yay! Thank you!

_I-Love-Trunks1: _Yeah… I just keep making his life hell, don't I? Thank you!

_Main Source of Annoyance:_ I wasn't planning on making Dick have MPD but I can see where you got that. Thanks!

_ShadowWolfDagger:_ You'll have to read this chapter to figure out of Bruce is okay or not. –winks- Oh the shooters… I have a lovely plot in place that's beginning now.

_Peeta's Lover:_ Well… yay for this now being your favorite chapter. In the beginning of that part Dick was angry at first and he was even angrier that Shane interrupted his and Bruce's talk. Then he realized just who he was angry with and decided not to be over something as stupid as Shane interrupting them so then it disappeared as he processed just what Bruce said. Shane, meanwhile, was trying to convince himself that he didn't love Dick (and Robin). And he was wondering how, when the look of anger was directed at him, how he never made the connection between Dick and Robin being the same person. Hope that explained it a bit. I probably just confused you even more. SORRY! –winces- The Titans weren't at the ball because they had a job to do. Which will be explained in this chapter. Damn me for writing in so many plot twists! Ahaha. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I "poked you in the eye" because you had to point out that a long review wasn't really punishment. So I took a child's way out and poked you in the eye. So… there.

_Popcorn:_ Thanks for the advice. I'll take it into thought. Thanks! I'm glad you liked the switch.

_Mizu:_ Ahaha. Thanks. I love the plot twists too. I love writing them.

_RandomFreakazoid: _Love the capitals! Wow… I didn't picture this story as being that good but… thanks. I mean it. I made you cry… I don't really know how I feel about that. XD. Nope, nope. Not on a hiatus. And this technically isn't my first fic, but it's my first fic for this pairing and fandom. So… yeah. Hope you like the rest of the story as much as you seemed to like the first two chapters. THANK YOU!

_Xoxo:_ Yay! I'm glad you eagerly await my updates. Thanks!

* * *

Once he got to the hospital Richard almost literally collapsed. Barbara held onto his arm tightly, though, keeping him steady enough so that he could lower himself slowly into the waiting room chair as Alfred went to go inform the doctor that they were all there. Shane hadn't come. Nor had his mother that was supposedly in love with Bruce. Tim was on his way from informing the Titans of the mishap and Barbara was talking to her father about what happened. Richard… well Richard was sick of hospitals. He was sick of everything that surrounded them. He wanted to go home and forget all about what happened and the horrible twist fate decided to throw in so that she could laugh at him some more. It was all so darn obnoxious and Richard had to stifle a bought of hysterical laughter.

"How are you?" The hand on his shoulder startled him out of his moment of staring at the wall in front of him. There was a stain there, right underneath the window, probably from a bloody nose, since the window was expertly cleaned and positioned right near the bathroom.

Richard really didn't think he needed to give Alfred an answer but he did so anyway. "Fine."

"Master Dick…"

"I'm fine Al. What'd the doctor say or nurse or something?" He mumbled, talking to his hands. They were dirty. Way dirtier than he expected or wanted. He should clean them… He stood up to go to the bathroom before Barbara placed herself in front of him.

"Oh no you aren't." She pulled him back down by his arm, shoving her phone back into her Hello Kitty purse with anger. "What did the doctor say, Alfred?"

"Master Bruce is in surgery right about now. The bullet missed his heart by a good few inches and avoided all major organs. He should be fine." Barbara was gripping his dirty hand tightly to keep him in place and Alfred had his hand on his shoulder in a manner that was supposed to be comforting but only made him want to runaway.

"Someone should call Jason." Richard supplied hopelessly. He knew Alfred would call Jason the moment someone reminded him and Barbara would continue holding his dirty, dirty hand unbearably tight and he wouldn't be able to go wash them until she left him alone.

"Thank you for reminding me Master Dick. I'll get right to it." And he rushed to do just that, leaving Richard alone with his dirty hands and Barbara's tight grip and smudged eyeliner.

"How are you holding you, Dick?" She asked softly, leaning down so she could force him to hold eye contact.

"I'm all right." He said softly, his blue eyes forever gazing at his hands.

Barbara made a noise in the back of her throat. "Dick."

"I'm fine, Bahbs. You should go see your dad." Commissioner Jim Gordon had in fact just entered the hospital and his big brown mustache was twitching on his top lip.

Barbara gave him one final look before she pulled him up to his feet and pushed him toward Tim, who had also just entered as she made her way over to her father to hug him tightly. "Hi daddy." Richard heard her voice echo in his head.

"_Hi daddy!" _

"_Mornin' Dickie-bird!" _

"_Mommy taught me how to fly today, daddy!" _

"_Did she? Well you're going to have to show me my little bird." _

"_Daddy do you think I can be like Batman?" _

"_Of course you can. You're my Dickie-bird!" _

"Richie?" Tim's voice shook and Richard finally shook his gaze from his dirty hands and onto Tim's tear streaked face. And more just kept coming and coming and coming.

"Hey Timmy." He said softly, pulling the younger Robin into a tight hug.

Tim cried. Barbara cried. Alfred cried. Countless people from Gotham cried. Richard, however, did not cry.

* * *

"We have to talk." Shane didn't want to hear those words passing through Richard's voice.

He lowered his book that he was reading and observed the ex-Robin as he walked towards him. "Not today." In reality he did want to talk, he just didn't think that now was the time to talk. If going by Richard's appearance was anything. The boy wasn't wearing a tie anymore and his shirt was hastily unbuttoned, well the first two buttons anyway. His jacket was lying haphazardly on the chair in Shane's room and his shirt was half way untucked. His hair was a mess, probably from running his hands through it so many times. "Come 'ere."

"No!" Richard snapped at him, a bit hysterically. "No, no, _no_. We have to _talk_, Shane."

"Okay then let's talk." He said soothingly. "Come here. We can talk here." Shane was seated on his bed, the covers pooling over his lap and his book placed on the side he wasn't lying on. Richard stared at him, unresponsive. "Dickie?" And then a lone tear fell from his crystal blue eyes. Shane was shocked, slightly.

"I-I… you can't tell anyone. No one can know." He was forcing himself to not cry, that much was obvious. He was forcing himself to do a lot of things.

"I won't." Shane watched as Richard walked over to him, standing off to the side.

"Don't tell me who you are. I- I don't think I could deal with that now." The last few words were choked out and followed by a thick swallow and frantic blinking.

"Okay." He whispered, taking Richard's hand in his own. They stared at each other for awhile before Richard forced a smile.

"The first time I met Bruce I was terrified." He whispered. "He was so famous and rich and I wanted to make a good impression. When my parents died… I was haunted by nightmares for weeks. On the worst days Bruce would tell me about his parents and I knew it was hard for him but it helped. He hugged me a few times, you know. Bruce never hugs people. But he hugged me. Even though it was awkward at first." A few more tears and Then Shane was pulling him down so that he lied next to him.

"Shh. It's okay Dickie." He ran his hand down Richard's black hair, pecking it softly and closing his own eyes against the pain he was feeling at remembering the death of his own father. The long, drawn out death.

"I can't lose him, Shane." The dam had broken. "I just… I _can't_."

* * *

Shane didn't sleep much once Richard had cried himself to sleep. And he wasn't one hundred percent sure why other than the fact that he had never laid with anyone like the way he was now. Richard was pretty much snuggled on top of him, gripping Shane's hand as though it was his only life line left. His face was turned into Shane's neck, his breath running across the bare skin in short puffs. His hair was perhaps the softest thing Shane had ever had the opportunity to touch, his hand running down and through it countless times. And then there were his eyes… so much more beautiful than they were before. He decided then to try not to hold the whole Robin thing against him.

"Why are you staring at me?" He heard Richard mutter into his neck.

"No fair." He said with a soft laugh. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was." He felt more than saw Richard extract his head from its spot before to rest on his shoulder so that he could gaze up at him. "That is until someone decided it would be fun to stare at me."

"You're so paranoid."

"I have to be."

"Bah. Not with me, kid." And then they just stared at each other for a good moment, both studying one another with precise movements. Both looking for something that the other hadn't a clue existed.

Then Richard leaned up so that their lips were merely centimeters away. "I'm going to kiss you now." He whispered, his breath running across Shane's eagerly awaiting lips.

"Okay." He whispered back, his eyes sliding shut as Richard's descended upon his own. There was a spark, this time and it was possibly the most amazing thing Shane had ever done with another person. His hand rested on Richard's neck, holding him into the kiss so that he couldn't move very far away.

They didn't do much that night, settling mainly on kissing and comforting and even talking here and there. When they fell asleep it was with souls full of hope.

Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jim Gordon stared down at the bullet that had just made it into evidence. It didn't look like anything special except for the carved initials near the top. _R. G.

* * *

_

**A:N- **Yet another winding down chapter. Oh don't worry…t here's more acting and plot to come. XD.


	11. Chapter 11

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she got three flames for the last chapter and decided that she wanted to set them straight.

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I recently opened up my inbox to find three rude reviews and I have a few things to point out to these anonymous reviewers. One: I'm glad you wasted your time by spending the night reading ten chapters of my story you so obviously hate. And I'm glad you took the time to review as many who didn't like a story would have just left it alone. Thank you for telling me just why you don't like it. Why you couldn't just leave it at that is beyond me.

Here's a little something that I thought you would notice before you began to read the story: Quite noticeably in the summary for this story it says that this story is slash. Now, not only does it say this but it also gives you the pairing. So why, may I ask, if you found the pairing "repulsive" did you waste your time reading it? Even if you didn't know what slash is I said right in the summary the pairing so you honestly have little to no excuse.

Two: Get your facts straight. I am not a "he" as many slash writers are. And yes, in canon Dick does love Starfire. But in fanon he can love who ever the writers want him to love. That, my reviewer, is why it is called fan fiction. Moreover, never once did Robin say that he hated Red-X. In fact, he said that Red-X confused him. The lines between good and evil weren't as clear as they used to be with Red in the picture. I'm glad you think I described Starfire well whenever "earlyer" was.

Three: Plenty of people pair Richard up with Barbara and I'm not saying that I hate the pairing. But as I already said, I told you quite specifically that this story was going to be slash and that it was going to be RobinxRed pairing. Meaning that Robin and Red-X were going to be together in the story.

Four: The "love crap" that you so eloquently put it is what I mainly write. And if you aren't a fan of this "love crap" then why are you a fan of _any_ pairing? Quite frankly the "love crap" between two males is the same as the "love crap" between a male and a female.

Five: The fact that this is fan fiction means that I can post this "love crap" anywhere I want. So excuse me if I can't be bothered posting it in Twilight where so many people post the "love crap". Bringing your mother into your review is almost asking for something to be said. You do not bring up your parents in a flame. It's almost rule number one. Because then anyone can take aim at you through them.

Six: DO NOT threaten my readers. I don't care how much you hate my stories but the moment you take it upon yourself to tell one of my readers to "go and die" you are asking to be banned from the site. And telling someone to "go and die" is no "lol" matter. It's a matter that needs to be dealt with. So here's a new one for you, you want to read a story read it. You hate a story? Feel free to drop a review saying why you hate it. But you DO NOT threaten a reader. You DO NOT target one reader. And you DO NOT make fun of a reader. Do you understand that?

I laughed at every point of your so called flames when I looked at them. Until I got to the one where you told my reader to "go and die" just because you didn't agree with what they said. Newsflash: Not everyone's going to hit what you want 100%. The world does not revolve around you. If you're on this site you obviously are old enough to have that cold hard truth dished out to you. I would have reported you too had you not "flamed" in an anonymous name because you threatened a reader. For some reason I don't think that's why you stayed anonymous.

And if you're going to flame do it once. Not three times.

I hope you find some story on fan fiction that satisfies your interests, _teen titan333997542, jedi boy777777777, jediboy6466r656677777888_. Good luck finding something that isn't this "love crap". Have a nice day and please, feel free to waste your time reading some other pieces of my work (If you're going to "flame" someone three times don't use the same wording. It just makes it obvious that it's the same person.).

Oh… and thank you for getting my review count up to 80.

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To all my other reviewers: I will post my responses to your reviews in the next chapter since I seem to have taken up my area for that.

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Now, just to set people straight. **This story is predominately slash. Meaning malexmale pairing. Meaning the main relationship is between two men. If you do not like it, do not read it and do not review it. If you've waited until chapter ten then it obviously doesn't bother you as much as you thought it did.** Happy reading.

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Meanwhile, Jim Gordon stared down at the bullet that had just made it into evidence. It didn't look like anything special except for the carved initials near the top. _R.G._

This certainly wasn't good. The only person exclusively in Bruce Wayne's life with the initials: "R.G" was Richard Grayson, his ward. Was the bullet possibly made for Richard Grayson? The fun loving little boy (who isn't so little anymore, Jim reminded himself) who was his daughter's best friend and babysat his son every once in a while? It couldn't be! As far as Jim knew (which was pretty far) that boy had don't nothing to warrant someone out for his death. "Renald!"

"Yes sir?" The new officer stuck her head into his office with a grimace. Jim held in a wince at the fact that she, like most of Gotham, had tear streaks down her face at the thought of losing Bruce Wayne almost the same way he had lost his parents.

"Get me the security tapes from Wayne Manor last night. I want to see the party and the time the shooting occurred."

Jim would be damned if anyone hurt that kid. No matter what he had done.

* * *

"On Thanksgiving my father would always come home late. This one year he literally forgot and mom had screwed up the turkey so bad that it obviously wasn't edible." Shane and Richard sat facing each other on top of Shane's bed, the two of them playing a game of Go Fish with some cards Shane had found under his bed as Richard changed out of his formal pants and shirt so that he was sitting in his boxers and a tight white tank top. "We were just about ready to leave when he came swooping in with four bags of Chinese Food take out. Mom burst out crying saying that he was her savior and how she ruined the turkey. Dad didn't say anything until a few days later when it was just me and him at home. Supposedly he forgot and thought that it was just another Friday night when he would always bring home dinner from work. None of us bothered to tell mom." They both laughed for a bit. "Do you have a two?"

Shane was ace at this game, he noted, when Richard wordlessly handed over his card. "When I found out that Bruce was Batman it was Easter. The Joker thought it would be funny to hold Batman all night and somehow get him into an Easter bunny suit. I don't even know how he managed it but when Bruce showed up at home that day Alfred was laughing so hard that I had to see for myself. Of course it wasn't nearly as funny once Bruce noticed I had seen." Shane couldn't help laughing at the image it conjured into his mind.

"Do you have a five?" Richard scowled at him before handing him over the card with a show of reluctance. The rule of the game: whenever you had to give up a card or 'Go Fish' you had to tell the other some snip-it of your life.

"Uhm… I was forced be Slade's apprentice in my first year of acting leader of the Titans."

"I'm pretty sure everyone knows that already Dickie."

"Well did you know that Slade has a rather large weakness for rap music and pumpkin pie?"

"No…" Shane smiled largely at the thought of the evil mastermind obsessing over pie and rap music.

Richard's own lips pulled up into a small smile. "Yeah well I'll never be able to have pumpkin pie ever again in my life. We had to eat it every single day. No man should enjoy a pie that much." He shuddered at some memory.

"Got a seven?"

"Go fish!" He seemed particularly happy to be able to say that with only two cards left, both a nine and a ten.

Surprisingly, it was Richard who won that game.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me." Jim said with amazement in his voice as he watch the scene for yet another time. It must have been around twenty times the Commissioner had seen it and yet it never ceased to amaze him.

"Does Wayne seriously do that?" Wendy Neuthyer asked just as amazed at the senior police officer who was currently sitting next to her.

"Oh yeah." His voice was still laced with amazement as he watched it one more time.

"Geez… how'd he know?"

"Beats me." A slow smile spread rather largely across his face. "I'm going to go have a word with Mr. Wayne's family." And yet he made no motion to move from his vacated spot. He swallowed thickly looking over at Wendy. "Maybe one more time Wendy."

"Yes sir." Just once more, he told himself. This would be his last time watching this legendary moment that just added more questions than answers when it came to the matter of Bruce Wayne.

When the resounding gun fire came Jim watched as the screen turned to black slowly, nothing left to be seen or heard apart from Bruce Wayne falling to the ground, blood already dripping out of his wound.

* * *

Shane felt Richard kiss him once more, his cards falling soundly onto the floor as the two of them traded tongues for a moment. His hand is resting somewhere on Richard's head as he feels himself lowered onto his back on his bed. He knows exactly where Richard's own hands are as they seem to be sending steam everywhere they touch. He knew the feel of Richard's breath on his own and the taste of him like the back of his hand by now. And he decides, once, that it was now his time to explore as he pushed Richard's back against the pillows and leaned down to kiss his way down the ex-Robin's neck and then back up to his lips, all the while removing his shirt.

* * *

She paced the length of the room with anger clouding her eyes. It didn't work! Those useless good for nothing soldiers shot up the wrong crowd. They were supposed to get them alone and they were supposed to drop the bullet with the initials at the man's feet not shoot the man with it! They were so… _idiotic_ if she dared use the word.

"Calm down, my Carissa." His voice was gentle and stern and demanded to be listened to. She stopped only once in her pacing to glare at the man before her.

"They failed me, Donato!" Her blonde hair whipped around her face dangerously, her features contorting into ones full of hatred and murderous rage. "They failed us and our parents!"

Donato rolled his eyes at his sister, leaning back into his chair. "Who's to say that they did fail, Carissa? They may not have followed the plan one for two but they did get the job done. Which is what you asked, is it not?"

She paused mid-step to stare at her brother before letting out a rather loud sigh and continuing her pacing, this time with more frantic nature than the last. "You do not understand me." She gazed at him, walking over to him to grip his hands tightly. "The police have the bullet know. They know-!"

He ran his hand down the length of her hair, before gently pressing a kiss to her lips and pulling away with a smile. "Hush sister. Everything will work out in the end. You'll see. He'll come to us this time." She looked at her twin grumpily before pulling back with a rather loud huff, plopping down next to him in the sofa.

"This better work, Donato. If it does not I do not believe we will ever get them back." She tilted her head to the side, leaning in to kiss him lightly, smirking when it deepened.

They needed this to work. "I know. And it will." He whispered against her lips, smirking to himself.

* * *

A Day Later.

* * *

"Bruce still isn't awake." Richard said grumpily dropping down so that his bare feet waded through the water. He smirked a little as Shane used the sides next to his waist as leverage for a quick kiss before plopping back into the water.

"If they let me visit I would." He heard Shane mumble.

Richard snorted. "If they let you visit they'd have to let all of Gotham visit. Which wouldn't exactly be the best thing for anyone. He is getting a shit load of fan mail though. I swear there are people from Japan and Albania sending him get well soon letters because there sure as hell isn't anyone names Donato in Gotham."

Shane raised an eyebrow at him as he leaned back into the pool. "How do you know? Have you met everyone in Gotham?"

"Pretty much." The tone of Richard's voice proved that he wasn't joking but Shane raised an eyebrow in question just in case. "What? I'm both Bruce Wayne's ward and Ro-Well I was Robin."

"What do you mean was, Dickie?"

"Let's not talk about this now."

"Now's as good a time as any."

"Shane." His voice held a heavy warning and Shane was suddenly angry at Richard.

"Richard." So he tugged on his hand a bit rougher than need and it ended in Richard falling, very ungracefully into the pool with a very un-Robin like squeal that left Shane cowering in laughter. "Did you just-?" He was cut off by a growl and an armful of pissed off Richard Grayson as he was tackled underwater.

This "fight" went on for all of half an hour before Shane had pushed the former Robin into a corner hidden by the diving board. "Aww you look so wet."

"Fuck off Shane." He pushed at Red-X's shoulder uselessly, glaring when Shane made no move to budge from his spot.

"Such a dirty mouth, Dickie. Shall I clean it?" He asked, leaning closer and closer to Richard's mouth.

"Oh go screw yourse-"And Shane was kissing him with so much passion that Richard would have drowned had he not had something (or someone in this case) to hold onto. "Okay so as much as I'm enjoying this…" Richard said breathily as Shane kissed his way down his neck. "I'm going to drown if I stay in here with jeans on. And Alfred's probably going to kill me and I'm sure you really don't want me to die-" Shane was back to kissing him at that moment.

"Shut up." He whispered lightly against Richard's lips before his hands went lower still, un-tucking Richard's shirt and flinging it over his head so that it rested calmly on the floor beside their heads.

"Shane seriously… Alfred will kill me-"

"I said shut up." He placed a hand firmly over Richard's mouth gesturing towards the doorway leading into the pool as voices drifted from it.

"Did you hear something?" It was Beast Boy's voice that asked that ever so obvious question.

"No, Beast Boy. We did not hear anything here, nor did we hear anything in the living room or the kitchen." Richard could tell from the carefully monitored monotone that Raven was on her last nerve when it came to their jovial green friend.

"Oh… well I coulda sworn-"

"We need to find Robin." Starfire's usual overly anxious voice said with a note of panic to it. "Where did he go? Why did he leave us?"

"Maybe it's another Slade thing." Cyborg said with a hint of worry evident in his voice.

"Robin just needed a break from all of it. You remember what Batman told us." Raven answered their two overly worried friends calmly.

Richard blushed when he realized that Shane was looking at him curiously. And then he paled because that meant that Bruce had talked to them about him without even asking him if he could. That was uncharted territory. Bruce had no right- "But the new Robin is not the same Robin." Starfire pointed out and Richard paled even more. New Robin? He was being replaced? He was easy enough to replace? This wasn't, of course, what Richard was originally planning on thinking but it's what came out and he felt his heart almost rip all over again at the thought. Until he looked at Shane that is. The frown that was in between his eyebrows could have easily been mistaken for anger but Richard liked to think that he knew him enough to be able to classify his concern when it was directed at him.

"Well the new Robin's all we're going to get at the moment." Beast Boy said loudly. "I just don't get how he could up and leave us in the middle of a case like that! If he wanted a vacation he could have taken one. He only had to tell us."

Raven sighed and Richard knew that sigh. It was her 'I give up' sigh. "What do we know about the name…Donato? Did we get anything with the search?"

Richard let out a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Donato was one of the names of someone who sent Bruce fan mail! Shane silenced him with a look.

"We got nothing." Cyborg said at the same time Beast Boy's green face got greener (if that was even possible).

"Okay I definitely heard something guys…." His voice had a scared tinge to it and Richard felt a small amount of guilt climbing up his spine.

"I believe Beast Boy is being truthful here. I have a feeling that we are not alone in this place." Starfire piped up her voice wielding worry over the situation.

"Hey guys… look at this!" Cyborg's excited voice came from somewhere over to their right and Richard and Shane held their breath. "It's the bat-signal."

"Let's go." Raven took control and the four exited the pool area with ease. The moment the door closed Richard had jumped out of the pool and was hastily rushing to dry off.

"Shit shit_ shit_!"

"Dickie calm down-!" Shane climbed out after him. "They didn't even know we were here."

"That's not it, Shane."

His eyes clouded over in confusion. "Then-"

"The bat-signal Shane! And where exactly is Batman?"

"The hospital…." He said as understanding overcame his features.

"Exactly."

"What are you going to do, Dick? It's not as though you can go out as Batman yourself!"

A smirk dawned over Richard's features as his blue eyes looked at him calculatingly. "Sure about that?"

"What? Dickie no!" But it was too late; the previous Robin was already out of the pool room and entering the Batcave with a new resolve.

* * *

**A: N:** So… uhm… it's not exactly long but it has a shit load of plot in it. This is all roughly a day after the shooting incident. And, yeah, you all did read the scene with Carissa and Donato right. They are twins and they did kiss quite a few times. Which means, yes, they're together as incest. And, no, their relationship isn't going to be featured heavily but is merely there to emphasize how screwed up the two of them are. More on their plans in the next chapter. Where I think I may just write in Richard and Shane's first time. Possibly… possibly not. So… look forward to that. XD And don't expect updates this fast. I merely wrote it because I wanted to write the above part ranting about flames and decided you guys should get a chapter too. Thanks for sticking by. 


	12. Chapter 12

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she meant to update this a lot sooner than she did and feels really bad that she left everyone hanging this long. FORGIVEME! So I blame not updating for a long time on my school's new Trimester schedule that screws with my homework load, my new story that's completely NOT a fan fiction, and my new obsession with Glee (mainly Kurt, but who can blame me? He's adorable). Yeah… so… FORGIVEMMMEEEE! –sobs-

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_I-Love-Trunks1_:Thank you so much! I'm so glad you've been enjoying reading this.

_Chibi Lauryn: _Well… welcome to the story then. Glad you aren't skipping over it anymore. AH! I don't update that fast. Not usually. Not since Trimesters have gone all asshole on my school and the teachers have decided that since they have longer class times they can give us more homework (because that totally makes sense, right?). Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it so much! Hope you like this chapter.

_Dark-Angel-Princess 01:_ Sorry that it took me so long to update. I hope you're continuing to read it.

_baka12: _Thanks! I hope you keep on enjoying it.

_Main Source of Annoyance: _I like your scientific equation. It's totally fun. XD. And true. I hate having dirty hands too. It sucks. Because then you really want to wash them… and then you can't. And that just makes it so much worse! Thanks for reading! I hope you'll continue to like it.

_DYlogger:_ Haha. Whoot! I totally agree with you. Maybe I'll take that into account for my next story. But for now I'd rather play it safe. XD. I'm glad you enjoyed my rant. It didn't actually expect anyone to read it. Well… this is a long time for me to make someone wait for an update so I feel horribly bad. -_- Thanks. I love Go Fish. It's the one game I can play.

_JennySam:_ No… I can't. Sadly. It's just… too hard. How can Richard not be Robin or any other flying thing? It just doesn't seem natural. Oh I didn't write in them doing anything this chapter. I decided against it. It's awkward for me. I haven't even had a boyfriend/girlfriend yet! I'm still only a teen! Ahaha. But, anyway, thanks. I love getting your reviews.

_Renee430:_ Ahaha. I bet you're right. Thanks. XD.

_Shadow Lily Potter: _Thanks. I'm glad you like it.

_Mizu:_ Aww, thanks! I'm glad you like my writing so much since I tend to have problems with it.

_jediboy77777777: _Why couldn't you have just said that the first time? Apologize to them. Not me. If you feel angry than you feel angry, but you can't persecute someone for their opinion. If they don't like Starfire than they don't like Starfire. I personally don't like her. But I'm not about to go pick a fight with someone who does. You just have to let it blow over you. Thanks for the compliment about my writing.

_ShadowWolfDagger: _Haha. Thank you! I've missed you! It's like you just disappeared. I was sad. . But I'm happy now that you're back. Oh my gosh that is so ironic! I never noticed that before. –laughs- I honestly have no idea why they do that. I wonder the same thing. I love the way you dealt with that flamer. That totally made my day when I read it.

_smileyfox5150: _Ahaha. Thanks. Glad you liked my rant. Glad you like my idea of Dick as Batman (I mean… it's canon!).

_BlackShadow47 is 2 lazy2 login: _Sorry! I am so sorry it took so long! I do love you (as a reader) do I apologize profusely for not updating sooner! –Runs off to cry-

(No screen name): Sorry average insomniac. –Cries even harder-

_Kurozaki:_ Ahh twincest. XD. Thank you for the love. I shall love you back (only if you continue to review). Read on and you'll find out. –winks-

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Sometimes Richard really hated his life. The first time was when that monkey joined the circus and everyone loved it and cooed over it, sparing him no attention at tall as he mastered a mid-air somersault. The second time was when he was caught sneaking out of the circus at night and a police officer thought he was _sneaking in_ and wouldn't believe him that he was a _member_. The third time was when his parents died. The fourth time was when he was kidnapped by Batman and kept in the freaking cave for what felt like eternity. The fifth time was when he found out exactly who Batman was . The sixth time was when Bruce took away his Robin privileges when Richard was so obviously right about their whole argument. The seventh time was when he met the Titan because, really, how were a bunch of teenagers supposed to keep a place like Jump City _safe_ when they couldn't even take care of _themselves_? The eighth time was when he met Slade because he was obviously _screwed _and the man had a huge ego problem and obsessive tendencies. The ninth time was when he figured out that Slade had made it his mission to break him and make him his apprentice. And so on and so forth. Thinking about all that time Richard hated his life just made him hate his life even more. But _this_… this surely took the cake.

Bruce Wayne-Batman-was in the hospital and was going to _be_ in the hospital for a while. Richard Grayson-ex Robin-was standing in the damn Batcave staring at the Batman costume and it had just occurred to him that he probably wouldn't be able to pull this shit off. Because he was sixteen years old, and while he was in good shape, Bruce could kick his ass in almost everything _but _flexibility and smallness. Which meant that Richard sure as hell was not going to fit in the costume no matter how hard he tried. Not for a long time anyway. And that honestly made him hate his life even more than he usually did.

Richard hid a scowl, his foot kicking out at a table in blatant aggravation. It jumbled for a moment, almost collapsing to the ground, before righting itself. Richard fell to the ground with a large sigh. _This isn't going to work_. He though dejectedly, his head falling into his hands. He looked up at the suit in front of him, before a large sense of desperation and determination filled his soul. He was going to make this work… somehow.

In the end he didn't look all that bad. He had borrowed parts of the Batgirl costume, such as the cape and gloves, with Barbara's permission and laughter, mixed them in with some of Bruce's earlier Batman equipment that Richard wasn't even sure why Bruce had kept and then adding some parts from his old Robin costume and Shane's Red-X suit (because, in all honesty, it was _his _anyway). And then he was off. He looked like a Batman replacement even though he knew that he would never be able to pull off Bruce. He decided to leave the cape before he left.

When he landed on the roof of the police station Commissioner Gordon was looking at the Titans as though they were something that he should book for trespassing. Tim looked vaguely uncomfortable in his Robin costume, standing off to Gordon's side and as far away from Richard's former team. "What've you got, Commissioner?" Okay so maybe he really couldn't pull off Bruce but he could definitely look intimidating.

Tim raised an eyebrow at him, stifling a laugh with a loud cough. Gordon looked up at him, surprise written clearly on his weathered face. "And who are you?"

"Does it matter? Batman sent me. So tell me Commissioner, what do you have for me?" His avoidance worked he guessed, since all Gordon did was look at him suspiciously before leading scrambling to pull a tape out of his pocket.

"I trust you've heard about the serial killings that have been going on at Haly's Circus?" Richard hid a rather loud wince and grimace, aiming to keep his features as neutral as he could go for. He nodded sharply when Gordon sent a look his way. "Well these… kids over here have picked up a sort of pattern. Every member of the circus who had been killed had just gone through some sort of loss. The first victims just had their daughter killed in a shoot out. The second victims had just lost their parents in a drive by. And so on. You get my point, yeah?" Richard felt Tim's hand on his shoulder and he almost wondered why until Gordon took his silence as an affirmation. "I decided to pull the evidence from the other cases. I found this." He handed over a pile of pictures.

"Are these the bullets?" Tim asked lightly, tugging on Richard sleeve so that he could view them himself. The Titans stood in front of the two, looking at them with wide eyes. Gordon nodded.

"Are those… initials?" Raven's voice held disgust, and she looked up at Richard with wide, surprised eyes. He swallowed comforting words.

"Yeah." Gordon said, his voice growing harder. "They shot down Bruce Wayne at his masquerade a few weeks ago. I pulled the bullet that hit him. It had initials. R.G." Richard tensed and he felt Tim's hand tighten slightly. _No way in Hell_…. "Now the only person that means anything to Wayne that has the initials R.G. is his ward. Richard Grayson. Just so happens that they boy used to be part of the circus too. His parents died and he was put in Wayne's care. The kid shows up from Jump City and then this happens. I don't think it's a coincidence. These killers were following him."

"Are you saying that Richard Grayson is their next target?" Tim's voice held a small amount of naïve fear, his eyes glancing over at Richard for a second before sliding back over to Gordon.

"Yes." Gordon's voice was full of anger now. "You listen here. I want you to find these killers, and I want you to find them fast. That boy's my daughter's best friend and he babysits my son. He's a good kid. Find them and stop them before anything happens to him."

Richard just found one more reason to hate his life.

* * *

Shane sighed and shifted on the living room couch. He looked once more at the clock, 3:12 am. His eyes roamed back over to the window before he decidedly gave up on waiting for Richard to come back. He'd see him tomorrow. Unless something happened to him. He could be in a ditch dead somewhere and Shane wouldn't even know- "Shane, baby… why are you still up?" He was thankful for the distraction that was his mother standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

"Can't sleep." The lie rolled off Shane's tongue easily and he almost blanched at it. He never used to be able to lie to his mother.

"I understand." She took a seat on the bed beside him. "I've been having trouble myself. I'm so worried about, Bruce."

"No you're not." Shane snorted. "You're worried about not getting his money if he passes away too quick."

His mother smirked, her golden brown hair falling into her eyes. Her hand reached up to brush back some of his hair so that he bounced away from his forehead. "I know you hate this, baby, but this is what I was meant to do."

"You were meant to steal from people?"

Her face gained a colder edge to it. "No, Shane. I don't steal. I just accept the gifts they give me. And, as I can see, you've taken a liking to my job. I've seen you with Richard. You've taken to distracting the family to a whole 'nother level, baby."

"I'm not using Dick mom." Shane hated how his voice grew louder.

"Shh, darling. I know you are. You don't have to lie to me. I just hope he puts some out for you before we leave." She winked at him before standing up and kissing his forehead. "Remember the plan dear, get in, get in their pants, get their money, and get out. It's as easy as pie."

* * *

Richard was ignoring him. That was so incredibly unbelievable that Shane didn't know what to think. He decided that maybe it was because Mr. Wayne had finally woken up that Richard was unintentionally avoiding him by staying by his mentor's side 24/7. But it had been five days now, and Shane was getting increasingly worried and annoyed so he had decided that he was going to confront the ex-Robin who was also moonlighting as Batman Junior as the tabloids had taken to calling him. So maybe Richard was just tired. Shane could have cared less. At the moment he wanted to talk to him so he was going to do just that. Screw Richard if he was sleeping. "What'd I do?" He asked bluntly when he saw Richard that morning. The teen looked tired and not in the mood to have this conversation but Shane could honestly care less as of now.

Richard looked at him, almost coldly, as he walked over to the coffee maker. "What?"

"You've been avoiding me." Shane pointed out, not missing the cold look that Richard had tried to hide. It hurt more than he'd care to admit. "So… what'd I do?"

Richard stared at the steaming hot cup of coffee he held in his hand. He meant to bring it up to Bruce but now he wanted to either chug it or throw it at Red-X's face. "Nothing." He muttered deciding on the former, and taking a rather large gulp from the mug and hiding a grimace once he actually tasted the hot liquid. Gosh he hated coffee.

"You're lying." Shane stated his voice almost in awe. "Why are you lying? What did I do?"

Richard slowly pulled the mug down from his lips, staring at the rapidly cooling liquid for a moment. "Guess you learned from your mom, huh?"

Shane did a double take. "Huh-What?"

"How to lie." Richard said calmly, finally raising his eyes to look in Shane's. The slightly older boy was surprised by the amount of hurt that shone through. "How to be Red-X. How to play someone."

"What are you talking about, Dickie?"

"_Don't_ call me that!" Richard slammed the mug down on the counter a small bit of coffee spraying out of the cup and onto his hand. He ignored the sting of pain it left in its wake. "And I'm talking about everything. I'm talking about you being Red-X. I'm talking about you being Shane Tyler, the son from the mother-son thievery team."

Shane blanched. "Dickie-"

"Tell me Shane, how'd it feel to know that you played Robin?" He walked close to Shane, so close that Shane could have kissed him if he wasn't so confused and terrified at the same time. Now he knew why criminals knew to run the moment they saw Robin or Batman. "You remember the plan, don't you Shane? Get in, get in their pants, get their money, and get out. It's as easy as pie, baby. It's as easy as pie." And then Richard shoved past Shane, leaving the mug of coffee on the island and storming up the stairs and into the training room.

Shane stood in the kitchen, stunned. Richard had heard that? And he just assumed that Shane had _agreed_? Shane almost took off after him before he kicked out at the table, relishing when he heard the wood crack and the whole table collapse. Later he would feel bad for making the elderly butler clean it all up, but now… now Shane needed to be destructive. He took off for his room, grabbing whatever he had left of the Red-X suit (Which was a lot, Richard had just taken some of the utilities) and shooting out of the window with resolve.

* * *

"What do you think you're doing?" Shane felt his back hit the brick wall with a rather large bang. He was rather joyful that Richard wanted to make this fight emotional because Shane was rather pissed off at the moment.

"Nice to see you too, kid." Red-X smirked out of his mask at Batman Junior, noticing how the boy's eyes narrowed behind his mask. What would he do if Red reached up and ripped off the mask and everyone from his team and all of Gotham knew just who the Boy Wonder really was? Honestly, Red thought it would have been hysterical.

"Are you _insane?_! You're jeopardizing _everything_! I have a big enough case to do that doesn't concern you _prancing _around Gotham for _thrills_ because you're _pissed off_!" Once again Red decided that he hated just how much freaking Batman Junior could tell about him (or anyone else) in any single second. Red felt his back slam against the brick once more.

"Am_ I_ insane? Excuse me, kid, but you're the one who's making a big deal out of nothing. I was just going for a nighttime stroll." He felt Batman Junior place one handcuff over his right hand before he lashed out. The move, Red decided, he would never be able to do again. The hero's head hit the brick and Red winced when he heard the skin of the boy's forehead scrape against the cold stone when Red had been not two seconds before. He felt rather than heard the wrist he held in his hand snap and give way under his hand before he was gone. He didn't stick around to see Batman Junior wipe away a strand of tears that were busy mixing with blood that was pooling down from his cheek and forehead. It was good thing that the cuts weren't that bad. Head wounds just bled a lot.

* * *

"Welcome back, Richard." The circus director said with a very large smile in his direction. "We are so glad that you're joining us again."

"Oh it's not problem at all, sir. I missed being here." Richard smiled at the old man, standing up to hug the man that he hadn't seen in a very long time.

"I believe you remember all of the motions?"

"Most of them sir. I haven't performed in a while."

The old man hummed. "Well you good enough to perform tonight?"

Richard smiled at the old man, his blue eyes shining brightly. "You bettcha."

The director smiled back at him. "I cannot wait to see you in action. Your parents would have been proud."

Outside the tent, Carissa twisted a piece of blonde hair around her finger with a large smile. _Welcome home, Dickie-bird.

* * *

_

**A:N:** We're drawing near the end of the story guys. I'm guessing that there's around three or four more chapters left. Maybe even two. I don't want it to end!


	13. Chapter 13

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she, once again, got caught up with school work and Glee and Harry Potter and Supernatural and family and felt bad. So... yeah.

Ooo, note: I found a song that I want you all to listen to when you read the next chapter and part of this one (Bruce's moments). In My Arms by Plumb. Perfectly sums up what he's going to be feeling.

Another note: For anyone who read this before and realized that I accidentally re-posted chapter twelve I am SO SORRY! I think we all need to thank Renee430 for informing me that I had made that mistake. SORRY!

_ShadowWolfDagger:_ Oh yeah it cheered me up, quite a bit actually. XD Yay for adding in twists that catch people off guard!

_Main Source of Annoyance:_ "Love sucks chipmunks." Love that. Read on and you'll find out.

_I-Love-Trunks1:_ YAY! I'm so glad you still love the story.

_Renee430:_ Ahaha. Poor Dick indeed. Sadly, it was mainly his fault for this whole fight. Since he didn't bother to listen to Shane's explanation. Oh wells.

_Kurozaki:_ I don't think he's going to listen to you. XP. He's stubborn? That's his reasoning for not listening to Shane. AH! I do? Damn it! This is why I should go back and read through my work before I post it. -Eye twitch-

_Dark-Angel-Princess 01:_ Ahaha. Yay! I'm so glad you think the story keeps getting better. Sadly, it's drawing to an end. Wow... is it really...? Thanks. -blushes-

_Chibi Lauryn: _Ahaha. Well here's another. Sorry to keep you waiting.

_Blackshadow47:_ Yes, back we go!

_Mizu_: Ah! Thanks for the forgiveness. School can really get on my nerves. Sorry... unless I can't plain let the story go than it's going to be ending soon. It makes me sad...

_jediboy77777777:_ Yeah. Fighting. There's fighting in every relationship. XD. Parts of this chapter aren't going to make you happy, just as a warning. Yeah... Try for constructive criticism more than flames. They tend to be accepted more. XP.

* * *

After running around as Robin for six years nothing really could come close in comparison. But living at a circus for eight years kind of leaves you with the same feeling. Therefore, in all honesty, Richard wasn't expecting a whole lot to happen on his first day back. Barely anyone that he remembered still worked at Haley's and, Richard was sad to notice, they place was no longer like the family it used to be. There were a few people, according to the ringleader, that were still around from when he was a kid, such as Carrissa and her brother. "Weird folk, those two," he had said in a conspiratory whisper. "real sketchy. They like the 'befriend' the acrobats. I think they try to make them their partners or somethin', an' I mean sexual partners boy. I'd watch my back if I were you." So, yes, Richard was a little creeped out by Carrissa and her brother, Donny as he later told, when they both came over and asked him if after his first perfomance he wanted to come to their tent for a "party". Richard figured he's give them a chance. People who lived in circuses their whole lives were bound to be different, if a little strange. Not like Richard could say anything himself, he had been the one to follow around a man who dressed up as a bat every night and kicked a shit load of ass.

Therefore, all in all, this performance should be nothing to worry about. The thing was, however, that Bruce Wayne was coming to watch the circus with his girlfriend. Which meant that Shane was coming. And Richard, under no circumstances, wanted to see Shane. Nor did he want Bruce to know that he had re-joined the circus when a killer there wanted to kill him, if only for a short amount of time. Richard sighed and re-adjusted the costume in the mirror. "The costumes here suck." He muttered to himself, scowling in the mirror, and then glancing at his phone which was buzzing loudly against the table beside him. Barbara's name flashed on the screen, blinking several times before Richard picked it up with a large sigh. "Hello."

"Are you an idiot? Wait, scratch that, I know you're an idiot, do you have a friggin' death wish, Grayson? Rejoining the circus? When someone wants you dead? I'm totally kicking you ass the next time I see you!"

"Bahbs-"

"Know what? Never mind. Personally, I wouldn't want to take that job away from Bruce, Shane, and Alfred. But expect a fierce chewing out, birdie. You won't know what hit you."

There was silence on both sides of the phone, before Richard began to speak. "You done now?" Barbara's gruff mutter of yes allowed him to carry on. "I'm sorry to tell you this Barbara, but who the hell would have caught them I wasn't used as bait? No one has any leads! And Bruce was shot because of me! Because of _me_, Barbara! Not because he likes bats!"

"Oh get over yourself, Richard! You and your little pity party? It's not winning you any points!"

"You're right! It's not." Richard glared at his image in the mirror. "But for once I'd like to be able to make a decision on my own without being chewed out for it!"

"Well stop making crappy decisions and you wouldn't be!"

"Oh fuck you Barbara! If I wanted to hear a lecture on how horrible I am at deciding for myself what to do I'd go have a conversation with Bruce."

"Why don't you go have that conversation with Slade?"

"Why not? He at least gave a shit where no one else did!"

"Are you saying that I don't care about you, Grayson? I thought the whole point of this call was to tell you how much I cared."

"Well I sure as hell haven't gotten that message out of this. What I got out of this is that I make crappy decisions that make no one happy. Well guess what, Barbara? I'm done trying to make others happy! For once I want to make myself happy!"

"And what? Getting yourself killed is going to make you happy? Dick, I understand what you're going through but seriously? This is suicidal! This isn't anything good!"

"You know where I'm going from? Oh come off it! Every move you make is not criticized!"

"Neither is every move of yours!"

"You know why I went to Jump, yeah? It was because Bruce was being too overbearing and didn't want me to have a voice. Know why I came back? Because I needed a family! I needed someone to listen-"

"You came back because you were scared! If you're going to act like this you should have just stayed in Jump!"

"Maybe I should have! Know what? In a few weeks, when this case is done, don't you worry Barbara. You won't have to worry about me anymore."

Both sides of the conversation were silent, Richard breathing deeply and with anger, and Barbara stunned into silence. "What the hell do you mean, Richard John Grayson? What the hell do you mean?"

Richard rolled his eyes at the phone, hanging it up and turning it off. He didn't need that now. He didn't need to listen to anyone saying anything like that to him now. Even if he had a sneaking suspicion that this was a very bad idea. "Your girlfriend?" A voice said easily from the corner. Richard jumped, his eyes slamming into the form of Carrissa, grinning at him in a slightly unnerving way.

He blushed a bit. "No... Barbara's my fr-sister. My sister." He looked back down at his phone, regret filling his soul. He shouldn't have said half those things. She was just looking out for him.

"Oh." Her voice sounded positively happy, and Richard really hoped she didn't have a crush on him because he was still getting over his relationship with Shane. He couldn't deal with another one. "Well you're going on soon, doll. Show them all how you can fly."

A small smile tugged at his lips. He used to say that to his parents before they would go out and perform themselves. "I will, Carrie."

"Good." She walked closer to him. "You know, it's weird."

"What is?" He asked lightly, closing the door into his room, and leading the two of them closer to the stage.

"You used to be the Flying Graysons. Now you're the Flying Grayson. It's sad is all."

That hadn't even occurred to Richard. But, now that it did, he wasn't so sure that he could do it. He didn't want to do it anymore. He wanted to go home, apologize to Barbara, and talk about something that was in the news with Bruce. He wanted to go back to Jump and hang with the Titans and fight Slade. He wanted to hug Shane with all that he had. He wanted- well it didn't matter what he wanted. It wouldn't matter until he got this case solved. Then it would matter. Then he could do whatever he wanted. He could stay in Gotham or he could go to Jump or, maybe, he could go somewhere else entirely. Richard would rather do anything than perform again. He hated to acknowledge it but... well... he was scared.

Scratch scared, he was fucking terrified. More terrified than he had ever been in his life, excluding when Bruce was shot, and when he was Slade's slave for a fucking month.

He didn't want to go out there. He didn't want the blinding lights, or the cheers, or the... anything. Swinging on a rope to another was very different than jumping from rooftop to rooftop, kicking someone's ass, balancing on a the edge of a building top, sliding into small spaces. Richard wasn't sure he could do it.

"Go on." Carrissa nudged him with her elbow. "Go on, Dick. Fly. Just show them all that you can fly."

And he stepped out onto the stage.

* * *

He didn't see Bruce once through out his whole "ground breaking", as Carrissa and Donny put it, performance. He didn't see him afterward. But he saw Shane. Waiting outside his tent with his arms crossed Shane looked the epitome of pissed off. If you looked "angry" up in the dictionary his picture would have been right there. Glaring at you. Richard decided that he was going to just plain ignore his presence. He pushed past him and entered his tent, his washed hair dripping into his face, and his sock clad feet padding softly against the ground. "Mr. Wayne's out there doing press control. I've never seen him that pissed."

"I'm sorry. Was there something you wanted?" Richard asked briskly, his voice coming out in his "prim and proper" voice. It was cold and it was impersonal.

Shane was silent for a long time, his eyes never once leaving Richard's back. "That's it!" He snapped when Richard made no other move to acknowledge him. He rushed forward, grabbing Richard's arm in his own and forcefully pulling him to face him. "You have got to stop this! I get it! You're pissed at me! But you don't even know what you heard!"

"Oh I know exactly what I heard, Red! You were using me-!"

"No I wasn't!" Shane shook his arm for emphasis, pushing him against his dresser in anger. "You need to shut up for once and listen! My mom is a player. She picks one guy that she want to use for his money and goes after them. I never involve myself in the schemes-"

Richard rolled his eyes in exasperation. "That's bull shit-"

"Okay, fine! Maybe I do! It's my job to get to the family! It's my job to get the kids and the wife to trust us. My mom just goes after the guy."

"So you did use me!"

"No!" Shane shouted leaning closer to Richard so that they were close enough to kiss. "Fucking damn it, Richard! I didn't want to use you!"

"Doesn't excuse the fact that you did!"

Shane pushed him back even farther, relishing in the wince that passed Richard's lips when his back pressed into the wood. "I care about you. I care about you a lot! And I don't want to hurt you-"

"Well you already have-!"

"I know, all right!" Shane's eyes sprinkled in what looked like tears. But Shane couldn't possibly be crying, could he? Richard didn't think he had the right to cry. Not when he, himself, had cried over this more than he had expected. "I hate this! I hate this so much!" He pushed away from Richard, walking over to the bed and throwing himself onto it. "My mom wanted me to use you. She wanted me to use you because than it would get Mr. Wayne to trust her more. She never ordered me into a relationship with you. She never guided me to it. The one time she said anything about it was the one time you overheard!"

"And that should make it acceptable?"

"No." Shane moaned, his head falling into his hands, his brown hair running against his fingertips. When he raised his face it was red from tears. His eyes sparkled. Richard hated the guilt that was filling his soul. He hated it so much. He hated feeling guilty about everything. "I get it, Dickie. I get why you're pissed at me. But you have to believe me. I never got in a relationship to hurt you. I never once used you for money or Mr. Wayne."

"But you used me." Richard's own voice shook, and yet he couldn't bring himself to move from his spot against the dresser. It wasn't as though it was too comfortable, but he knew where he would go if he moved. He would stumble right back over to Shane and he would apologize.

Shane's head shook. "No. Maybe. But not for anything you think I did." He paused, trying to contain himself. "I love you, Dickie. I always loved you. Maybe not always you, but I always had this strange sense of admiration for Robin, and then I met you and I loved you. Then I met the actual Richard Grayson, the one that's both Richard and Robin... You have no idea how much I love you Dickie. You have no id-"

And then Richard's lips were on his. And Shane felt some sort of wetness press into his cheek, and he knew it wasn't from him. He pushed Richard away, so that he could look at him fully. "I'm sorry." Richard's voice cracked and Shane realized that he was crying too. He didn't feel the accomplishment that he thought he would at the thought that he caused those tears. He didn't want to be the cause of those tears. "I'm just-"

Shane reached over and pulled him back in. It was gentler than Richard's kiss but he held the same type of urgency. He pushed the younger boy back onto the bed, his hand traveling up his white tank-top, the cotton on his outside and the skin on his palm exciting him more. He felt his jacket tumble to the ground and his own shirt be almost forcefully ripped off. He nudged Richard's legs apart with his knee at the sound of a moan. He couldn't say which person said it, but, either way, it was enough.

His hand slid up Richard's leg, getting closer and closer to his crotch. He felt Richard shake with each breath, his hands just as eager to touch every part of Shane. And then he was almost to the golden part... "Shane stop." He felt rather than heard Richard whisper and mutter into the kiss. His hand wouldn't comply. "Shane. Stop." It was more forceful this time, and he felt Richard's hand grip the one that had been traveling up his pants and interlocking it in his own. They didn't bother to stop kissing until they were truly out of breath.

"I love you." Shane whispered, his forehead pressed closely against Richard's, and his eyes taking in the flushed state of his face, Richard's blue eyes, still shut tightly.

"Love you too." The ex-Robin gasped out from beneath him, a breathless smile crossing his face. Shane beamed back, leaning back down to kiss his red lips. Who cared about parents?

* * *

Carrissa pulled her head out of the tent, her eyes clouded in anger. She looked over at Donato, nodding at him in confirmation. "We'll move in tonight." His deep voice said in aggravation.

"I was hoping we'd have more time." Carrissa said disappointingly.

Donato walked behind her, his arms encircling her waist. "Me too. But that jerk will leave soon and then we will have him all to ourselves."

Carrissa smiled.

* * *

"Hey Dick!" Carrissa said brightly when Richard entered their tent. He smiled lightly, his blue eyes sparkling.

"Hey, Carrie." He answered her hello, waving at Donny. "So... I hate to say this but that performance tonight was my last."

Carrissa looked over at Donny, worry in her eyes. "Oh my. Why?"

Richard looked down at his hands then back up at her. "I guess I was trying to run from something that I didn't need to run from. I'll miss you guys." He said almost sincerely, his mind somewhere else. He was remembering Shane, and Bruce's face when he had sat him down to talk. _"You don't have to be a hero all the time, Dick. Let us do some of the leg work. That is the reason you have partners. You told me that much."_

"We'll miss you too!" She leaned over to hug him tightly, her perfume filling his senses. Donny came up to stand behind him, Richard heard his feet against the ground. "I'm so sorry to see this happen this early."

Richard pulled way from her hug. "Me too, Carrie."

"Me three." Richard looked up at Donny, and his heart stopped. A gun was staring him right in the face.

"Don-"

"-ato." Donny had a sly smile crossing his face. "Goodness I thought you were smart. Now Carrissa."

Richard tried to jump out of her way, only to have Donato's hand wrap against his throat and something cold and painful and... a needle slip into his vein, a small dot of blood pooling out of the wound. He felt the liquid spread throughout his body and his limbs become heavy. His eyes began to droop closed and he felt his body fall back, into Carrissa's smaller one. _Well shit_, he thought. And then he was out.

* * *

**A:N: **Next chapter the torture takes place. And, we'll say we have around three more to come? Possibly. Possibly one plus the epilogue.


	14. Chapter 14

La Mort de Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she, once again, got caught up with school work and Glee and Harry Potter and Supernatural and family and felt bad. So... yeah.

Ooo, note: I found a song that I want you all to listen to when you read the next chapter and part of this one (Bruce's moments). In My Arms by Plumb. Perfectly sums up what he's going to be feeling.

I swear I listened to Save You by Kelly Clarkson throughout this whole chapter. And Use Somebody by Laura Jansen. And Sinner Man by Nina Simone (for the "escape" scene).

Don't kill me when you are done with this chapter... just remember that there is one more! And if you kill me you will not get to the end!

* * *

_Kurozaki:_ Ahahaha. Yeah. Shane should hurry up and do that saving shouldn't he?

_I-Love-Trunks1:_ Yay! Thank you!

_Blackshadow47:_ Nope, nope. Not gone forever. Not even close to being gone. I have no idea if that's pro or con either... But those fics can sure be fun!

_Dark-Angel-Princess 01:_ Yay! Their fight couldn't last that long. I'm not that evil. And I love writing their moments. So... yay! Thank you!

_Mizu_: Aha. Well read this chapter and you'll find out what happens.

_JennySam:_ Glad you enjoyed their moment. The Titans... I honestly have no idea where they are. I kind of don't even know why this is under the Teen Titans category when the Titans are pretty much ignored. -_-

_Lifeless Heartless:_ Aww. Thanks! I love you too! For reading this mostly, but for taking the time to review too. Aha. Love Black Friday. I got this review while shopping with my sister. So you made me happy too.

_Ookami Aya:_ Well phooey. Thanks for pointing those mistakes out to me. XD

_Peeta's Lover:_ YOU'REBACK! -Glomps- I MISSED YOU! I don't really remember how chapter ten ends... but... you teared up? Now I have to go back and read it. -Does so- Aha! Got it now. The Shane/Richard moments were my favorite parts to write out of that chapter. Have fun reading the next few chapters!

* * *

**Day One**

When he woke up it was bright. Richard wasn't so sure that it was bright outside but it sure as hell was bright inside. Then he saw her and- by God what was she wearing? It was some bright red performing outfit thing and it made his eyes hurt. He shut them quickly – tightly- hoping to keep out the brightness, but that obviously didn't work out as well as he planned. "How do I look?" He wasn't sure if they question was being directed at him, but, honestly, Richard felt compelled to say something. _You make me want to vomit._ He tried to say. But it didn't come out. It wouldn't come out. His mouth was practically like lead. It wouldn't open.

His eyes flew open, panic setting in and his mind bringing them to a squint at the brightness of the room. His head a killer migrane. "Oooh! Look who's awake, Donato!" Her high pitched voice did not help anything. He winced, trying to move his hands from his sides to brush away that pesky bit of hair _out of his eyes_. But his arms wouldn't budge. He could move them about half an inch high but then something wet and rough would sharply pull them back down, not allowing them to move any farther.

Well shit. He was kidnapped.

Did that even occur here? Honestly Richard was about 99.7% sure that none of the other victims had been kidnapped. But that didn't mean much for him, the idiot that he was. He should have known. He should have made the connections. Instead he had been too busy wallowing in self pity to actually do his job. He was a horrible vigilante. He should just do himself a favor and quit for good this time. "How are you feeling?" Her voice was softer this time, yet she was closer. He could actually make out her outfit, and- hell no she was not wearing that! "Hmm?" She pressed, her hand reaching out to smooth down his bangs.

"Like crap I'm sure." Donny - Donato - said mockingly, sitting himself down on Richard's other side. His hands grasped Richard's wrist and – holy shit did that hurt! "You struggle in your sleep, you know that?" No he didn't know that because he surely was never told that by Bruce, or Shane... but then again he'd only ever been kidnapped by Slade and the Joker and they never forced him to sleep. "So now you have cuts all over your wrists. This is horrible to clean. And you keep moving, so they're going to keep bleeding." Oh... so that's why his wrists were wet.

"Are you tired, Dick?" Carrissa asked soothingly, her hand petting his hair and then floating down to his face. No. He damn well wasn't tired. He shook his head frantically, blatantly ignoring the pounding, and increased nausea that attacked. That wasn't good... probably a concussion. "Shh..." Her hand pet his cheek, stilling his head almost immediately. "Donny will take care of you. He'll help you sleep."

Then Donato was leaning over him, and Richard's breath had stilled considerably. The male twin smirked at him and a small, sharp pain pierced through his arm. He knew the sensation of sleeping drugs more than he cared to admit. All he though as his world faded to black was just how much worse this was probably going to be than any other time he had been kidnapped.

* * *

"_You know Mr. Wayne don't you?" The officer said softly, kneeling down to look at the eight year old at eye level. His hair fell haphazardly into his eyes, and the officer sighed, her hand reaching up to wipe the dark hair out of his eyes. "You're going to stay with him for awhile, okay?" Blue eyes surveyed the old man standing off to the side with a kind smile. The officer followed his gaze. "Oh, that's Mr. Pennyworth, Richard." _

"_You can call me Alfred." His voice was thick with an accent that made the boy's nose wrinkle a bit in dislike. He looked back at the officer, begging her silently with his eyes to tell him that he didn't have to go if he didn't want to. But she just pushed herself up from her position on the chair. _

"_I'll go get your stuff, sweetie." He hated her sickly sweet voice even more than he hated the old man's. Her hand passed over his head, gently musing his dark locks._

_The old man sighed. "Mind if I sit down here?" Richard shook his head minutely, his eyes straying back to his tightly clenched hands. They were dirty. He should probably go wash them-. "Mr. Wayne is in a meeting right now, but he is very excited to have you staying with us." _

_Richard highly doubted that. He had overheard a few of the officers talking about how Mr. Wayne was only taking him in as a sort of charity case and a ploy to show the media that he was no longer the partying rich boy, but the man ready to settle down and start a family. He was pretty sure that they were right. Cops were almost always right. "The cops don't like him very much." He said softly, his voice almost scaring the shit out of him because he hadn't said anything in nearly two weeks. And here he was, telling this old man his thoughts. Was he insane?_

"_Can I be honest with you Richard?" At the boy's hesitant nod he continued. "The police do not like many people. Do not judge Mister Wayne until you meet him yourself. I am sure you will find that the two of you have a lot in common." _

_Richard just picked at his sleeve with a small disbelieving sigh.

* * *

_

**Day Two **

"Good morning, Dick!" Her voice was a little too chipper for the morning. Carrissa smiled down at him, her teeth glittering in the moonlight. It was night... why the hell did she say good morning?

"Let him wake up a bit before you scream, darling." Donato said softly, swaying up to Carrissa's side and placing a kiss right next to her mouth. "The poor bird must have a killer headache."

Which, indeed, he did have. He also had a killer pain that was encasing his whole damn body. This was truly not fun. "Oh hush, Donny! Everyone needs some morning cheer."

"It's night." He rasped out. Oh my! He could actually talk! Oh he was internally jumping for joy.

Carrissa's eyes widened a bit. "Oh! I guess it is." She giggled, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in a 'silly me' manner. Donato chuckled at her, coming over to Richard's side and reaching over to check his pulse.

"You didn't move as much this time. Dream of anything good?" He asked with a small smile. Wait... so he was being nice now? What the hell was going on?

Richard just stared at him with wide blue eyes, searching for something in his face. "Not in for much talking are you dear?" Carrissa said with a small sigh, her body coming over to lean across Donato's back. Her blonde hair tickled his face and Richard reached up to wipe it away only to have his hand jerked back down with a hiss. Right. Ropes. Digging into his already raw wrist. Way to go Richard.

"Well, you're fine." Donato said, letting go of Richard's wrist and spinning around in his chair, pulling Carrissa's body onto his. "As are you." He leaned in for a kiss, and Richard really hoped that he hadn't meant to kiss her on the lips. But... no... he meant it. And they were both throughfully enjoying it as his hands moved from her ass to her breasts. Richard turned away his head and closed his eyes.

Just a second before they fully closed, however, he saw it. A flash of light against the walls. He forced himself to look back towards the couple, as his eyes scanned the room for a window. And... there it was! Right against the wall in the far left corner. Hope filled his soul and he opened his mouth to scream and then there was a searing pain and his eyes had fallen shut.

* * *

"_Bruce-"_

"_No Dick! You aren't going! That's final!" Bruce pushed away from the console, his body forcefully moving Richard out of his path to the Batmobile. _

"_And why the hell not?" Richard knew he should have stopped, but he was stubborn. And he wanted some sort of independence and he wasn't going to get any in Gotham. _

"_Because you're only a kid." Bruce didn't turn back to face him, his back symbolizing the supposed end to the conversation. _

"_I'm not a kid!" Richard ignored how his voice screeched up an octave. "I'm as much of an adult as you, Bruce! And you know it! You've said so! And it's not like you'll be all alone here either-!"_

"_You are not going Richard and that's final!" Bruce turned towards him, his eyes blazing in anger. But Richard stood his ground. _

"_Why not? So I can be stuck in Gotham the rest of my life, following around Bruce Wayne and Batman and becoming who YOU want me to be? Not who I want to be? You're poison Bruce-!" He didn't see it coming but, just like that, he was on the floor of the Batcave, a trembling hand positioning itself over his jaw and fierce anger leaking through his eyes. _

"_Go then! See if I care when some psycho decides that you're too good to pass up!"

* * *

_

**Day Three**

His head hurt more than usual and that was probably due to Donato's fist having collided with his head. Not only was there sure to be a nasty bruise but there was blood dripping from underneath his eye from where the man's ring had ripped open his skin. He winced when something wet passed over it. "You shouldn't make him angry." Carrissa said softly, her hand passing back over the cut. "Not that you didn't deserve that. You were going to scream."

"You kidnap me, and yet you don't expect me to scream?" Richard asked incredulously.

Carrissa smiled fondly at him. "Oh no, darling. We didn't kidnap you."

"Than what do you call this, Carrissa? Going willingly?" He tugged at the ropes to prove his point.

"It's all part of procedure, Dick." She said, her voice holding a bit of an offended edge to it.

"Procedure for what?"

"To bring them back."

Richard blinked up at her as she leaned across him. "Bring who back...?" He asked slowly. His eyes widened slightly when her hand came back with a needle in it. "Carri-"

"Our parents." She said with a large smile. "We're going to bring back our parents, Dick! Isn't it exciting?"

"You're insane." He breathed out. "Our parents are dead-!"

Her eyes hardened. "Now that's not a very nice thing to say." Her hand plunged down faster than he could comprehend. Pain spread through his arm, and then he became blissfully numb as her face faded away. "If you just stopped being so mean we wouldn't have to do this every day."

* * *

"_He's going to be okay." Shane said softly from his spot next to Richard at the kitchen table. Alfred had already cleaned up his mess and had left to get ready for bed when Shane had nodded at him to go. The elder teen ran his hand down Richard's arm, coming to a stop at his hand. _

_Richard sighed deeply, his blue eyes falling shut involuntarily. "I don't know what to do." He whispered unconsciously as Shane pushed away his plate to the other side of the table so he wouldn't fall asleep in it. _

"_Just... relax, Dickie." Shane said softly, his other hand running up his back to clutch his neck gently. He kissed the area next to his mouth gently before he let out a soft sigh against the ex-Robin's cheek.

* * *

_

**Day Four**

"WAKE UP!" Cold water splashed onto his body harshly and Richard's eyes flew open. Donato glared down at him, a cold sneer on his face.

He blinked the water out of his eyes, his body unconsciously shivering. "Wh-what?"

"The ritual starts today." Donato said in complete seriousness and he worked his way over to Richard, a leather strap stretching out to cover his eyes. He leaned closer, the strap close to fastening on the other side of Richard's face. But it was dark. And Richard was beginning to really hate the dark.

His Robin training came in handy. He remembered all those times that Bruce would cover his face and turn off all the lights and tell him to rely on his other senses and his gut. "Your gut is your best weapon." Bruce had told him. So Richard kicked out with all his might, his foot connecting in the right place. Donato gasped, his hands leaving the leather strap to hang uselessly at the side of the bed.

"You little...!" Donato gasped out, his hands reaching forward to grip Richard's neck. But with an speed impossible to most people the ex-Robin did an impressive kick to the side of the man's head, which then bounced off the table and met the floor with a sickening crash. Richard's eyes were wide and he tried in vain to slip his wrists out of their rope hold. His vision blurred around the edges and he pulled increasingly at the rope. He was so close-!

* * *

"_Feel the punch! Follow through!" Bruce coached him, his voice close to raw from the amount of yelling he did. He watched as the boy fell to the ground in an exhausted heap after the manikin finally collapsed into five different pieces. "Good! Good." A proud smile fell across the man's face as he made his way over to the child. _

_As the boy struggled to his feet Bruce wondered if he was really doing the best thing. "One more." Richard commanded, his voice rough with anger and anticipation. Bruce allowed it.

* * *

_

"Master Bruce." The man blinked out of his stupor, his tired eyes looking from the picture on the screen to his butler. Alfred hadn't bothered much to dress up due to the occasion. Bruce brought himself to a deep sigh as his dark eyes fell onto Tim, who was passed out against Jason's side on the couch across from the television. "Commissioner Gordon wishes to have a word." Bruce pushed himself up out of his armchair, wincing as his back cracked.

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute Alfred." Bruce said shortly, making his way over to his closet to change out of his sweat pants and into something more... appropriate than his pajamas.

"Yes sir." Alfred turned his back on the Batman, pushing his way out of the door and walking down the stairs. He paused at the sight before him, as Shane was sitting across from the police officer, Barbara sitting next to him, her hand resting on his back as he cried into his hands. "Master Bruce will be down in a minute, Commissioner."

Jim Gordon's eyes crinkled as he pulled them away from the teenagers on the couch. "Thank you Mister Pennyworth. I just have a few more questions for Mister Tyler." Alfred nodded stiffly from the doorway as Bruce walked down the stairs, looking more awake than he had a moment before. "Morning Mister Wayne."

"Good morning Jim." He said softly coming over to stand behind the living room couch. "Where's his mother? He's a minor you can't-"

"She's in jail." Shane said softly, his voice cracking a bit on the last word as he swallowed.

Bruce didn't bother asking why, he knew why, he had been the person to call the police on her anyway. Then there was this Shane kid. As far as Bruce cared, he was only keeping the kid around because he was the last person to see Richard before he disappeared. He was actually pretty surprised to see the kid out of jail, he was pretty sure he had seen the kid being led into the police station too. "They cut him a deal." Barbara said softly as she stood up to leave her father and the boy alone. "He's just as worried as you are."

"I doubt that."

* * *

**Day Five**

He screamed as the knife cut into the flesh at his stomach, blood pooling out of the fresh wound. He had similar cuts on both his arms and his legs and, honestly, Richard was too drugged up to really care much about anything besides the pain. The goddam _excruciating pain_! "We're almost done, darling." Carrissa said softly as she stroked back the hair that was sticking to his forehead.

Another whimper passed through his lips as Donato brought the blade down once more, this time right under his neck. He hurt so much. He honestly didn't have a clue what the drugs they put him on were supposed to do since they certainly didn't do anything for the PAIN. "Perfect." Donato had a prideful smile on his face as he walked over to the sink, dropping the knife in it with a clang.

"Shh, darling. It's all over. It's all over, Dick." Carrissa soothed, her hand gripping his trembling one.

"Oh stop babying him." Donato spit out as he walked over to their side. "It's not that bad. See? He's still awake."

"That's the work of the drugs, Donny. You know that." Carrissa defended, her hand petting back his bangs. "And he is a baby. Compared to us." She smirked in his direction.

"Hasn't even lost his virginity yet." Donato ran a hand over Richard's crotch, chuckling as the boy tried to scramble away.

Carrissa slapped his hand away, a glare evident in her face. "Oh stop it, Donny. He's only a child."

"Maybe we should make him a man."

"Donny-" He kissed her again, smiling as he pulled away and then bringing his lips down to meet Richard's. But Richard couldn't feel much besides the pain and, finally, thankfully, he fell into oblivion.

* * *

"_Wake up, Robin." The voice commanded him. Robin couldn't bring himself to remind Slade that he didn't sleep, so he just pushed himself into a standing position and glared with all the heat he could master at the man that stood before him. _

"_I'm up." _

"_Good." And then one of the daily training sessions began.

* * *

_

**Day Six **

"What are you afraid of?" Carrissa asked softly from his side as she slipping in yet another needle into his bruised arm.

"Life." Richard moaned softly, his eyes fluttering shut. But it was so bright inside his mind and it hurt his head. They flew back open with a displeased groan.

"Death is worse." Carrissa said seriously. Her hand reached out to tug at his bindings. "What do you say I untie these for a bit? Don't tell Donato." Her hands worked with the rope expertly. Wait... was she serious? She was untying him? Was she insane? Did she not know who he was?

Oh wait... that would be a good thing if she didn't know who he was. The ropes fell back and Richard was free. He moved to hit her but her had reached out, gripping his already torn up wrist with a strength he wouldn't have guessed that the small woman possessed. He winced in pain as her hand slicked down his red and raw appendage but then he remembered that he had two hands and his other came up for a quick right hand to her jaw. Carrissa fell to the ground in a heap and Richard successfully pushed himself off the bed he had been laying on. He didn't waste anytime, grabbing the knife that was left on his bedside table and rushing to the door, which was... unlocked. He glanced back at the blonde girl with confusion before he decided that he would take the blessings when they came and entered the hallway.

So he wasn't at the circus anymore... that much was obvious. But then where was he? Richard didn't have much time to think on that when he caught sight of the bodies that littered the floor down both hallways. Left and right there were people and animals, drained of their blood, and lying scattered on the floor. Dead. Maimed. Richard forced a swallow and shut his eyes. _I've seen worse._ He tried to convince himself. _Buck up Robin. This is not the worst you've seen. Nor is it the worst you're ever going to see. Get yourself together and get the hell out_! But he was so tired and it would be so easy to go to bed-.

A rustling alerted Richard to Carrissa's impending consciousness and he forced himself to chose a side. Left it was. He ran, stumbling a few times before regaining his footing. More and more bodies showed wherever he turned until finally there was a large pile at the end of the tunnel. He backed up a bit, shaking his head fast as the image before him blurred and disappeared. "_Damn drugs_." He muttered to himself before he began again.

He must have run passed the wrong room because soon there were feet echoing behind his own desperate ones. He knew he shouldn't be running like this. He wasn't an idiot. Bruce taught him somethings. Like don't use up all your energy running for your life. Strategy. He pushed open the doors ahead of him and did something insane. He stopped. He let who ever it was chasing after him catch up with him. Closing his eyes he counted down.

Ten.

"_Daddy did you see me fly?" _

"_Course I did, Dickie bird! You were amazing." Dad had so much pride in his eyes and in his voice._

"_My little robin." Mom was tearing up. _

Nine.

_The snap echoed in his head as his parents fell from where they were suspended. "Mom!" _

Eight.

"_I understand." Bruce's voice leaked with understanding. It was enough to make him want to die with his parents more than he already did. _

"_No one understands." _

"_My parents died when I was a little younger than you." _

"_Doesn't mean you understand." _

"_You want him dead." _

"_He killed them. He deserves to be dead." _

"_But that's not justice. Your parents wouldn't want that." _

"_You don't know them." _

Seven.

"_What's the R stand for?" _

"_Robin Hood." _

"_Robbing the rich and giving to the poor?" _

"_I guess." _

"_Wrong. Try Robin without the Hood." _

"_Then I'd just be Robin." _

"_Exactly." _

Six.

"_What's the matter? Afraid daddy won't come and save you?" _

Five.

"_After a while I'll become like a father to you." _

"_I already have a father." _

Four.

"_You're our leader, Robin. We need you to lead." _

"_I'm scared Raven." _

"_Understandable. Sometimes fear can eat you up inside. The only way to defeat it is to face it." _

Three.

"_Why can't we ever go to the circus, Robin? We do whatever you want!" _

"_It's not that easy Beast Boy!" _

"_And why not? Tell me why we can't go to the circus! It's only for an hour-"_

"_I'm not going. That's final. I don't care what you do." _

Two.

"_Trust him!" _

"_I'm not going to get another Robin, Dick. I'm done with that phase of my life." _

"_There is no Batman without Robin anymore, Bruce. It's about time you got that through your thick scull." _

"_I'm not going to be responsible for him-"_

"_He's not Jason! Tim's not going to go crazy! He can handle it!" _

One.

"_I love you, Dickie. I always loved you. Maybe not always you, but I always had this strange sense of admiration for Robin, and then I met you and I loved you. Then I met the actual Richard Grayson, the one that's both Richard and Robin... You have no idea how much I love you Dickie."_

Zero.

"Made the right decision kid." Donato's voice was rough with anger and frustration. Richard didn't turn around to face him, letting the blonde man make his way over to him instead of the other way around. "You're going to pay for what you did to Carrie."

His hand closed around Richard's shoulder, forcefully pulling him to look at Donato's face. But Richard was ready. The knife raised and cut Donato across the cheek. The man dropped Richard's arm in shock and then the ex-Robin was off again. Sprinting down the hallway before the man could even look him in the eye.

"You little bastard!" He heard the man yell after him. He made no motion to stop, even when the world started to close in on him. Richard fitted himself against a wall, closing his eyes and fighting for the breath that was so far away. "So those drugs finally kicking in?" His eyes fluttered open. He had to fight. He _had_ to! But his hand wouldn't move. It was as though it was stuck to the wall.

"Bruce." He moaned softly his eyes falling shut again as his head hit against the wall behind him._ Don't ever be afraid. They won't expect you to fight back. You have the element of surprise. You work in the dark, they work in the light. If you're scared, let that fear fuel you into fighting. _He hid a short laugh. It was funny how he was using his Robin training to help him out of a position he got himself into as Richard Grayson. They weren't supposed to do that. There weren't supposed to be crossovers into either aspect of their lives. They were supposed to stay separate.

"Dick?" Carrissa's sickly sweet voice came very close to his hiding spot. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. I forgive you." There was a hole in the roof above him. A hole large enough for Richard to pull himself up through. He had already figured out where he was, some sort of abandoned hospital close to a highway. He took a deep breath and jumped, his hand barely grazing the whole. But he grabbed onto it. He ignored the pain that came as his shoulder held most of his weight and swung his other arm to grip the whole tight. "Dick? Sweetie it's okay. I forgive you now. You're just scared." _Fucking terrified._ He swung his weight towards the hole and slipped into it easily. With a smile he straightened to his feet... and fell dead to the ground, out cold.

* * *

"Anything Titans?" Batman asked stiffly, ignoring how all of the assembled teenagers flinched at his sudden appearance.

The new leader, Raven, turned to face him, her gray face stony. "Nothing."

Batman sighed harshly before dropping off the rooftop when they all had their backs turned. They really were nothing without Robin.

* * *

**Day Seven. **

He was woken up with a slap against his face. Harsh and biting it woke him up easier than water. And then he felt the familiarity of a sedative slip into his arm as he blinked up at the furious blonde woman. "I trusted you Dick." Her voice sounded crazier than Donato's.

"I'm sorry." He wasn't sorry. He was scared. More scared than he had been when his parents died and when he was kidnapped by Slade and when Bruce was in the hospital.

Donato may have been crazy, but Carrissa was insane. She laughed lightly before she kissed Richard deeply. He panicked, kicking out and screaming against her mouth. But she just hit him once more before pulling back and smirking down at him. "Hush. You're enjoying this." When she gripped him he finally allowed himself to cry. _Don't stop fighting. Never stop fighting.

* * *

_

"_I've never done this before." He whispered against Shane's mouth. The elder boy pulled back, his eyes clouded with lust, some of it disspearing when he realized that Richard was not joking. _

"_Never?" _

"_Never ever." And then Shane rolled off him, his hand placed over his racing heart. "No... Shane I want it-"_

"_Not like this." Shane turned towards him, smiling lightly. "You don't have to rush. We have all the time in the world."

* * *

_

**Day Nine**

"Dick! Richard!" The voice was familiar and it was welcome but Richard refused to believe that it was actually there. It was all a lie. Bruce Wayne could not have been there. His mind was playing tricks on him. "_Robin_! Open your eyes!" And he did. Because he was being commanded to and he was pretty sure he learned somewhere in his training to _listen to the bat. _

"Bru-" The hand that immediately covered his mouth made his eyes widen and tear up and he screamed against the hard material that kept it shut. Tears streamed down his face. Why was he doing this? Why was Bruce doing this to him?

"Oh God Dick calm down! Calm the fuck down!" Batman sounded panicked and his gloved hand removed itself from his ward's mouth. But Richard was crying too much to notice. "Shh, shh Dick. It's okay. It's-"

"Batman? You found the kid?" It was an unfamiliar voice, but the body was even worse. Richard grabbed hold of his mentor's cape, his screams dying down to loud whimpers. "We got the perps. Commissioner Gordon wanted to have a word with you- oh God..."

"Please don't go." Richard felt like a little child again, begging to whoever was up there, to whatever diety that decided to answer that he would not be left alone. Not again. "Please!"

Batman just looked down at him mournfully before he tugged at his cape and pushed past the officer and medics. "Bruce! _Bruce_!" The anguished screams almost made him run back. But that would have been too much. He could hear the sobbing and crying and nausea pooled up in his stomach. But he needed to go. He needed to become Bruce Wayne so he could be there for his son. He needed to.

* * *

"Let me go, let me go, _let me go_!" Richard fought them with all that he had. He was tired of people touching him. He just wanted to go home. He wanted Bruce to come back.

"It's done kid." Commissioner Gordon tried to sooth him, but his hand was smacked away by one of Richard's flailing limbs when he tried to touch him.

"Please!" The sobs were enough to break anyone's heart. Everyone wanted to stop. But they needed to make sure he was okay. "Please Bruce! _Please come back_!" Commissioner Gordon gestured to one of the officers to get him someone he was closer to and to try and find his damn family as Richard continued to scream and cry and thrash.

"Calm down kid. You're not going to get yourself anywhere by panicking." They had, of course, gotten the closest thing that they could. His boyfriend and his daughter. Both of which had been riding with him when they got the call that he had been found.

"Bruce-!"

Shane Tyler forced down the flailing limbs, holding Richard's hand in his own and his other reaching up to smooth back his sticky bangs. "It's okay. It's okay now, Dickie. It's all over." And then all that could be heard was crying.

* * *

Lights from cameras flashed when they were leading Richard into the ambulance. People were shouting out questions, screaming to be told what had been going on. Not all assembled were paparazzi. Quite a few of the members of the crowd were just worried bystanders. Richard Grayson was liked by a lot of the citizens of Gotham. "Mr. Wayne!" Gordon screamed for the one man that was desperately needed. And there he was, pushing his way through the mania and flinging himself at his injured child. Gordon pretended not to notice the tears that were streaming down the millionaire's face.

"You came back." Richard choked out, his throat raw and his eyes red. Bruce nodded, his hand gripping the one that he held and the hair on the top of Richard's head. He didn't care how un-Bruce-Wayne he was acting when he pressed his forehead to Richard's, their tears mingling together.

"I'd never leave you Robin." He leaned up, pressing a kiss to his son's head before replacing his forehead against Richard's. "Never."

Lights flashed all around them and the headline that ranged throughout the United States was: The Death of Richard Grayson. _La Mort De Richard_.

* * *

A:N- One more chapter. And it will not be as uberly long as this one was. Don't expect that. Please don't kill me guys... please... I mean there's one more chapter! Who knows what could happen?


	15. Epilogue

La Mort De Robin

By: RavenHeart101

_Fan:_ supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster, addict. _Fiction:_ A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Put it together and what do you get? Me not owning anything.

Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Robin's hit his. Therefore, Robin takes a break. He stops being Robin and becomes Richard Grayson once more, moving back to Gotham with Bruce Wayne. What he doesn't expect is to be followed (unknowingly) by one Shane Tyler and his mother. The two are world renown fugitives. Thieves. One of which goes by the name Red X on his own free time. But, while this might be a problem, a bigger and more dangerous problem is soon to emerge when the Titans show their faces in Gotham, mid-chase with a group of villains. They need Robin again. But will Richard done the cape and mask again?

**Warnings for this chapter:** I might mess up the characters. Just saying.

**A:N- **Written because she is so excited to post this chapter. Last one buddies. This is sad.

Thank yous will be at the very very end.

* * *

"Is this the end of the moment  
Or just a beautiful unfolding  
Of a love that will never be?  
Or maybe be  
Everything that I never thought could happen  
Or ever come to pass..."

Anywhere But Here – Safetysuit

* * *

The worst part of all of it were the nightmares. Shane had decided that two years ago after he had gotten home from the hospital. He was scared. It wasn't as though Mr. Wayne made it any secret that he didn't like him, so it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to be allowed to stay at the manor, let alone all of Gotham. But he wasn't about to leave either. It wasn't as though he could have explained to anyone why he was hated by the elder man. It wasn't as though Shane had stolen Richard from him. Which then brought him back to remembering that day. The nightmares.

They always left him sitting up in bed, a few tears dripping off his chin and his hand reaching out to cover one of his many scars. Shane didn't know what to do when they happened – he figured there wasn't much he could do when they happened, and his psychiatrist agreed with him 100%. But then there was the fact that he wanted to do something, so he would call out of work, and call Richard out of the Academy, let him sleep in, make his favorite breakfast, and pop in his favorite movie. They would have a relaxing and unhealthy day, and in the end, they would end up either passed out on the couch, or the carpeted floor, or the bed, the two of them sleeping peacefully.

And then Richard would wake up at two in the morning and call Bruce, just to reassure himself that his mentor was, in fact, still there – still alive.

* * *

"Take it easy, Dick." Richard sent Bruce a dark, annoyed glare as his guardian pushed him back into the horrible – horrible- wheelchair. He was finally being released out of the hospital after camping out there for around a month and he was really tired of sitting around and doing _nothing_. And if he wanted to walk he was going to walk damn it! "Stay in the chair, Richard." His voice was sterner this time, and Richard noted the look of warning on the man's face. He knew better than to bait him, so he sat back in the chair with a pout, an angry sigh, and his arms crossed over his chest stubbornly. All the while trying to glare darkly at the man that was walking beside him.

"Oh, come on Dickie." Shane said from where he was pushing the chair. "The moment we're at the manor you can walk again." Richard noticed the dark look that Bruce shot at the elder teen and his glare took on a whole new level. Why the two of them couldn't get along was _beyond_ him.

"Do you mind _not_ plotting to kill Shane?" He muttered shortly to his guardian. Bruce didn't look at him, but Richard wasn't stupid. He knew that the older man heard every word he said.

Bruce had been doing this a lot lately, ignoring every word that he said in favor of pretending that Richard was okay. Normally, Richard wouldn't be pipping up and would let him and Shane have their little feud until it blew up in their faces. But... right now Richard was tired. And he had this large gaping hole of NOTHING in his memory. And it was turning out to be more annoying than having to listen to Beast Boy rant about some video game. And Slade talk about pie. And the Joker laugh. And one of Bruce's aggravating pep talks. They pulled to a stop outside of the elevator, and Shane came around to look Richard in the eye. "How're you feeling?" He said softly, kneeling down so he was the same height as the dark haired teen.

And then there was this... slightly annoying but slightly endearing. "I'm fine Shane." He rolled his eyes at the older teen before him, smiling a bit as his hand pushed back his bangs and kissed his forehead before going around to the back of the chair once the elevator doors opened. Bruce let them go in first, and Richard pretended not to notice the look he sent Shane.

* * *

Shane wasn't exactly sure when him and Bruce had gotten over their little hatred and began to not-hate-but-tolerate one another. But he figured it was somewhere between when Richard returned home from the hospital and when Shane had saved Bruce's ass when the Joker went insane on Gotham and he had no backup. There was also the issue that if they didn't accept one another Richard would have probably left both of them. As he had threatened to do plenty of times.

But him and Bruce had come to a mutual understanding and that made them both incredibly happy. After his parole was up Shane had done everything in his power to make up for his mother's moments of insanity by going to college and then getting his own job at Gotham's number one newspaper. That wasn't to say that he liked writing (Shane would rather not write, thank you very much), but he was able to get all of the juicy details and he was newspaper's best investigator. And in a few years he would be partners with a police officer and his stance would be upped even more. Not as though he was still working in Gotham... but either way.

* * *

"I have a job!" He proclaimed loudly, running into the room and throwing the phone to Richard. Who was too busy reading his book to notice that something was flying through the room until it hit him in the head.

"Ow!" He shrieked, rubbing his head where the phone hit. "What was that for?" His voice rose up an octave and his still-bandaged hand covered his right eye from view.

Shane was too busy wallowing in happiness to do much else but pounce the younger boy with a loud laugh. "I got a job! A JOB!" He hugged the boy tightly, being mindful of the bruises and cuts that were still healing. Richard stiffened for a second, he had been awkward when it came to touches for a while now, but felt himself relaxing into the embrace when Shane nuzzled his neck.

"A job?" A breathy laugh passed through his lips as he was pressed back into the arm of the sofa in the living room. The television played softly. "How'd you manage that?"

Shane sat up, frowning a bit before pulled Richard into his lap, ignoring the indignant yelp as the book that had been cradled in his lap fell to the ground. "A writer. The newspaper." He said shortly leaning forward to capture the younger teen's lips in his own.

"Mm. A writer? You hate writing." Richard said, pulling away with a teasing grin on his face.

"That I do." Shane leaned forward once more. "But the investigation... Wonderful." He whispered against Richard's lips. Leaning down to kiss his jaw line. The shake in Richard's breathing was enough for Shane as he smiled against the younger's neck, pushing him down and laying over him.

"Shane..." Richard breathed out as the elder's lips moved over to his own.

"Hmm..?" He asked, leaning back down to Richard's neck.

"What do you say we hone those investigation skills...?" He threw his head back in laughter, leaning up, his eyes sparkling brightly as he kissed the boy under him.

* * *

He remembered when they had left Gotham, Richard and him. It was a perfect day, and the two of them had finally found the perfect apartment in Blüdhaven. The goodbyes were hard on Richard, but it was needed. He never would have really felt safe in Gotham, and he never would have felt as though he was anything besides a sidekick if he stayed in Gotham where Batman reigned supreme. And Blüdhaven needed help from someone who was not Batman. Plus they had a killer Police Academy centered a town over.

So they had left Gotham and Bruce had threatened softly that if anything happened to Richard that Shane would be held responsible.

That wasn't to say that Richard jumped onto the "let's save Blüdhaven" bandwagon the moment they showed their faces in the downtrodden city. No, he scoped out the city until he had committed every person, place, and thing to memory. It was a painful process to watch, and yet it was one of the most interesting things Shane had ever watched.

Then he had walked into the apartment one day to see Richard gazing at the newspaper (one that he had nothing to do with this time) with tears in his eyes. And there, in big letters, was the banner "Batman Has a New Robin". "Dickie-"

Richard had turned back and smiled at him, wiping a hand across his eyes. "Jason." Was all he said, and Shane, surprisingly, got it. Jason was back at being Robin. Which meant that he had to have been let out of the corrections facility Bruce had sent him to in order to manage his unstable anger. Which meant that he was better (a whole lot better). He found out a few days later (via news) that Tim had moved onto the Teen Titans to be their new Robin. Shane had sighed and sat back in his chair, Raven had taken Richard's spot as team leader once he had left, and then the Titans had disbanded. He guessed that Tim had put them back together.

But, anyway, they had moved to Blüdhaven once Richard had graduated, found a good apartment, patched up mentally, and the trial had finished. Shane winced, the trial wasn't the happiest moment of their lives. It was stressful, and it resulted in a lot things. Haley's Circus was officially disbanded, as was Richard's stance as Robin. He guessed that was around when the Titans had fallen apart. They had taken their time to testify and help Batman put the kidnappers in jail, but then they had left for Jump City. Without a leader. He heard that Batman had told them that Robin had quit.

The lawyers tried to twist Richard's relationship with Shane as to somehow butchering his character. It made no sense to him, but he understood that Bruce Wayne's heir suddenly coming out of the closet wasn't the smartest thing to do while Carrissa and Donato were being prosecuted. Not that Shane cared all that much. He was pretty sure Richard had pushed Bruce to let the media know.

So, not only did the defense use things like sexuality against them, they used the fact that Richard had randomly decided to rejoin the circus. There wasn't much of an excuse Richard could have come up with besides Batman asking him to – Shane soon learned that it was common knowledge that Batman had "kidnapped" Richard Grayson himself when Richard was younger, and that the young man had cleared Batman's name of all charges by testifying in open court that Batman had saved him. Trust was never an issue when it came to anyone who knew Bruce Wayne. Even if Shane thought it was pretty obvious that the story had been thought up on the spot.

It was around that time that Shane had officially met Jason Todd. The boy looked so much like Richard that it was almost terrifying to be in the same room with the two of them. But the younger boy (by only one year or something like that) was fiercely protective. He also had some screwed up sense of justice ("give 'em what they dish out"). It was obvious, however, that he cared. And that him and Richard were close. They acted like brothers.

* * *

"Hey... I'm Jason." The guy was younger than both Shane and Richard, and yet he seemed older than both of them. His hair was obviously a died black, but he somehow managed to make it look natural. His clothes were baggy, and his hair was messy. The sort of messy Shane loved to see on Richard but never got to see unless it were just the two of them. And then he realized... this guy almost looked exactly like he imagined a younger Richard would look like. Except Richard would have been more prim and proper.

"Shane." He said, the two of them shaking hands politely.

"Yeah, Bahbs told me." The boy smiled evenly, and there was something behind that smile that pretty much terrified Shane. Just a bit. "Just one thing, Shane. You hurt Richie... you deal with me. I will castrate you, and shove your own dick down your throat. Got it?"

"Got it." And if his voice squeaked a little he would not mention it at all.

Jason sent him a dazzling smile, once again, reminding Shane of Richard. "Good. So..." And they proceeded to talk about cars and movies and music.

* * *

He guessed that was why it came as such a hard blow when Jason died. It was horrifying. The way Jason was killed... Shane never would have wished that upon anyone. And then there was Batman's subsequent refusal to do anything besides find the Joker and kick his _ass_ into _oblivion_. Richard had to go back to Gotham. Shane had offered to go with him, but his partner had forced him to stay in Blüdhaven. Barbara told him not to be offended, and he wasn't. If he knew anyone it was Richard. And the fact that Richard was going to Gotham (taking a long three weeks off from the Academy) to help Batman find his "brother's" killer was something that the two of them needed to do alone.

He had gone to the funeral though. Shane never wanted to go to a funeral ever again. He had stood off to the side as Richard stood beside Bruce, the two of them stiff and expressionless. The coffin had been laid out in front of them and, as soon as everyone had left, a single piece of folded up material placed inside. Shane didn't have to ask what it was to know that it was the very familiar Robin mask. Richard had held Bruce as he had finally broken down, and only did so himself when the two of them were back in Blüdhaven, and left to their own devices.

But they were a family. Some weird sort of screwed up family but Shane couldn't bring himself to care. It was perfect for them.

* * *

**A: N**: So... this is the end. And... here are the eternal thank yous to each of the following:_ JennySam_ (my first reviewer for this story), _White Rose 101, Renee430, I-Love-Trunks1_ (for reviewing every single chapter), _Main Source of Annoyance, Tathwem Essenuejal, Peeta's Lover _(for being highly entertaining), _SoulMore, PIRATEofHOGWARTS, ShadowWolfDagger _(for reviewing almost every chapter),_ Charlie-87, RoxasIsReal13, PrincessAnnMacbeth, 69EmoGaaraFan69, Mizu, TeaFanatic, Dark-Angel-Princess 01, kiki89, Jossi-kun, baka12, Chibi Lauryn, jedi boy777777777/ teen titan333997542 _(for being the flamers), _xoxo, RandomFreakazoid, Popcorn _(for giving me advice on how to write action scenes), _BlackShadow47, smileyfox5150, Shadow Lily Potter, Dylogger, Kurozaki, t.y.u.i.t.y.u.i., GeorgieGirl999, 101kikki, Twillightfairy, Ookami Aya, Lifeless Heartless._

The fact that this is the end makes me so very sad. :( Keep on the lookout guys, I think I'll be returning to this fandom. You all make me so happy. And I am going to cry when I read your reviews for this chapter. If anyone wants to request anything go ahead. I may write one-shots for this story. I LOVE YOU ALL!


	16. Outtake 1

La Mort De Robin – Birthdays

By: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: If I owned Batman or Teen Titans I'd be older than almost 17 and I'd have enough money for this to be real. And Teen Titans wouldn't be a children's show.

A: N – This isn't a new chapter per say. It's a random out-take chapter that I decided I was going to write in my sickness full of coughing up a lung and no internet. I just cannot give up on this story. I just... I can't. It's still finished... Just... the one shots shall be put up here in order to keep organized! I just love you so much! -collapses into sobs-

No promises on any of these being long. **If you want to see one on here send me a request via review or PM. I'll get around to it. Sometime.**

Summary: Birthdays are something that are regularly forgotten about in the Bat-family.

* * *

The day started out normal enough. He woke up, got dressed, and then greeted Shane with a kiss to his cheek. He sat down with the newspaper and coffee and stared at today's version of entertainment. Nothing new was in there (nothing that he hadn't already been informed about due to the sources he had) yet he found himself staring at the paper in some sort of dismay. He couldn't figure it out, but something was nagging at the back of Richard's mind. Something that was obviously important. If he could just figure it out...

"My editor called in today. Said that they had an interesting story they wanted me to cover." Shane made brief conversation. Richard lowed the paper, hiding a playful smile behind it. He raised an eyebrow in question. "Something about some Nightwing person."

Richard coughed and brought the paper back up to hide his slight blushing. Yes, Shane knew about what he did at night, and Shane also knew that Richard was a police officer in his free time. Shane was constantly holding his hero complex over his head. He didn't do it to offend him, more to tease him insanely. "They've been mentioned around the precinct a lot lately." He said evenly, flipping a page needlessly. It wasn't as though he'd read anything on the last page.

He heard Shane push his chair back lightly and he felt more than heard him standing behind him. "You going into the office today?" The older man asked softly, leaning forward to loop his arm around the dark haired man's neck. He kissed Richard's cheek, his chin resting on the other man's shoulder.

"Not unless they call me in." Richard answered simply, skimming over the one happy article, his lips twitching upwards as Shane nuzzled into his neck.

The other man hummed, the vibrations spreading through their bodies. "Good." Shane said softly into Richard's ear. The hero paused, internally shivering. "I have a little celebration planned today."

"Celebration?" Richard said breathlessly. Why the hell he was breathless he wouldn't be able to tell anyone with blushing a little too much. "For what?"

Shane pulled away from him a moment, meeting his eyes with an apprehensive stare before smirking and leaning in to kiss Richard firmly. "Happy birthday, Dickie." He whispered right before contact. It was short and sweet and not at all what Richard wanted. He wanted so much more at the moment. He forced himself to swallow. "Don't tell me you forgot." It was meant to be teasing, but there was a shadow of doubt behind Shane's gaze. Almost as though he knew Richard had forgotten. Birthday's weren't really his thing. Last year he had accidentally forgotten Shane's. That didn't end so well.

"O-Of course not." Richard stuttered, bringing the paper back up to cover his reddening face.

Shane sat back on his heels, frowning softly. "Well that's a lie." He muttered, gripping the chair and turning it so that Richard faced him. He yanked down the paper, staring into the blue eyes of the man he had fallen for years earlier. "Dicky it was pretty bad when you forgot mine. But how can you forget your own birthday?"

"Can we not talk about this?" Richard said shortly, hiding a glare and trying to unsuccessfully reopen the paper so he could have something to hide behind.

"No." Shane said simply, holding it down with a tanned hand. "Actually..." A confused glaze overcame his features. "Why haven't any of the faithful Bat-family called to wish you a very merry day?"

"Birthdays... They're not really our thing." Richard said slowly. The two sat in silence for a while, Richard waiting for Shane's reaction and Shane thinking. Hard.

Suddenly the older man leaned up, catching Richard in a heated lip-lock, pushing his tongue into the other man's mouth. Richard gripped the table to steady himself as Shane leaned closer before pulling away. "Well they're ours."


End file.
